Box of Memories
by Elizabeth Bathory
Summary: Tony denies being nostalgic but Pepper proves otherwise when he is away and learns more about the man she has worked for and loved, using this info for a surprise for Tony.
1. Chapter 1

Box of Memories

Box of Memories

By Elizabeth Bathory

It was always said that Tony Stark was not nostalgic. He supposedly only had to have the newest and greatest and anything old was almost diseased to him. Tony Stark was not nostalgic but Pepper Potts knew differently. If he wasn't nostalgic, why would he never finish that he and his father built together? If he wasn't nostalgic, why did he keep the Mark I chest piece that Pepper had remounted into the frame 'Proof that Tony Stark has a Heart' even after it has been exhausted after the battle with Obadiah? If he wasn't nostalgic, why would the photo albums on his computer be filled with thousands of pictures that were not publicity shots? The truth was that Tony was nostalgic about certain things but would never admit it to anyone and took great lengths to hide it.

While Tony was away playing superhero again, Pepper had gone to his office for her semi-regular organization day of his desk. If she didn't do this on occasion, his desk at work would look like the one in the garage – the victim of Hurricane Anthony. The desk actually wasn't that bad this time for the most part since Tony had not spent a great deal of time in his office lately. Being Iron Man can keep you busy. Since the desk didn't take as long as she suspected, Pepper eyed the closet door. She hadn't organized that in a while and was almost fearful of what she would find. Feeling a bit daring and a bit brave, she opened the door. Most things were not too disheveled but one thing stuck out and it was something she had not noticed before. A rather old and tattered Xerox box was shoved on to the shelf. It was unmarked and held together with duct tape. Curiosity got the better of Pepper and she pulled it down and set it on the couch in Tony's office.

Pepper peeled off the tape that held the lid on and pushed the broken piece of cardboard off to the side, revealing a veritable treasure trove inside. The box was filled with various sorts of memorabilia – baby pictures, cards, and toys, newspaper clippings – all of which had something to deal with either Tony or his parents. "So this is where he hid a bit of his past?" Pepper thought to herself as she started to go through the box. There was so much that she was curious to know the back story to but there were not many who could or who would be willing to tell her. There was at least one though – Tony's secretary that had worked for his father.

"Mary? Could you come in here for a moment please?" Pepper asked as she held the door open for her.

"Of course, Pepper. Is there something you need?" Mary started before stopping when she saw the open box. "I haven't seen most of these things in years. Where did you get them?"

"Tony had them in his closet. I was wondering if you could tell me about some of the things in here since you have known Tony the longest."

"His old butler knew more than me but I can see what I can do," Mary admitted as she started sifting through the box, smiling at all the pictures and fond memories of days gone by. "He was such a cute baby. I remember when Maria brought Tony in for the first time. He was six weeks old and all the girls in the secretarial pool couldn't stop playing with him. Needless to say we didn't get much done that day," Mary explained as she took out a large scrapbook that was Tony's baby book and set it aside.

"Is that Tony's baby book?" Pepper asked as she noticed the scrap book all decked out in red and blue cars with _Anthony Edward Stark – April 4, 1973_ written across the top in a distinctly feminine handwriting.

"It most definitely is. I helped Maria make it myself." Mary said happily but then her tone shifted to one that was a little sadder. "Tony was supposed to be the first of many children but given that Howard was already over fifty when Tony was born, he became an only child. Maria, who was twenty years younger than Howard, wanted at least three but it wasn't meant to be."

"I'll have to look through this at some point in time," Pepper mused as she grabbed a toy robot. It was about a foot tall and gray with brightly colored lights and buttons. It also appeared to have been rebuilt a few times. "This seems to scream Tony." Pepper said as she held out the robot for Mary to see.

"And I remember the day when he brought it here. I think this little robot was the cause of a few firings that day. It was back when Tony was four years old…"

_It was a warm spring day in Southern California and the sun was sparkling off the buildings of Stark Industries as the limousine drove up with Maria Stark and Tony. Her husband, the CEO and founder of Stark Industries, Howard Stark had gone west to check on the factories instead of dealing with the investors in New York. California meant only that Maria had to spend the massive amount of time that she could not spend with her beloved husband in Beverly Hills instead of Fifth Avenue. She made excuses nearly every day to go visit him at work, even though she didn't need to._

_The limo pulled to a stop right in front of the door to the main building and a young brunette in a lavender princess line dress that fell just above her knees stepped out with a little boy in a baseball shirt and blue jeans carrying a small toy robot following right behind her._

"_Good morning, Mrs. Stark." The receptionist said with a friendly smile as Maria walked in._

"_Good morning Angie. Could you please buzz Mary and tell her we are on our way up."_

"_I will do that right away, Mrs. Stark," Angie stated before she looked down. "Good morning Anthony."_

"_Tony," Tony immediately corrected her, which got him a warning look from his mother._

"_My apologies, Tony." Angie said as she reached into the small candy bowl on her counter. "Do you want one Tony?"_

_Tony eagerly held out his hand. "Thank you," he said quickly when Angie placed the candy in his small hands._

"_You're welcome." Angie stated. "Mrs. Stark, Mary will be waiting for you upstairs. Have a good day."_

"_You as well, Angie. Let's go Anthony. Time to go visit Daddy." Maria said with a smile as he took Tony's hand and let him up to Howard's office._

_The elevator stopped on the top floor and Tony ran out of the doors into his father's office._

"_Good morning Anthony," Mary said with a smile as she caught the speeding four year old._

"_Tony," Tony corrected again as he started to pick through Mary's desk._

"_I'm sorry. Good morning Mrs. Stark," Mary stated with a smile. "I see he is trying to assert his independence."_

"_Yes, my husband started calling him Tony and it stuck so now he wants everyone to do it." Maria explained. "Is my husband available?"_

"_Yes Mrs. Stark. He is in his office."_

"_Thank you, Mary. Anthony, go tell Daddy we're here." Maria told Tony._

_This Tony knew what to do. Stand on tiptoe to open the door and then run in as fast as he could, hoping to land on his father's lap._

_When the door burst open and his son came running in at full speed, Howard Stark seemed to lose ten years off of his face and braced himself for impact. He opened his arms and caught the flying Tony just in time._

"_Now, you are a good surprise for today," Howard said as he hugged Tony before setting him back on the floor as Maria walked in. "And the light of my life. How are you?" he said as he gave Maria a kiss. _

"_He did it again, Howard." Maria sighed as she returned her husband's kiss and then took a seat on the couch and called Tony over._

"_What did he do again?" Howard asked, eyeing Tony who was playing with his robot._

"_He took that robot apart again." Maria stated as she pointed to the robot that Tony was playing with._

"_It looks like it's in one piece to me." Howard said quizzically._

"_Anthony put it back together as well but it doesn't work the same now." Maria stated._

"_I'll fix it later on."_

"_It doesn't need fixing. I fixed it." Tony said proudly as he showed his father the robot._

"_How did you fix it Tony?" Howard asked as he took the toy from his son's hands._

"_I gave it upgrades," Tony said proudly as he reached to grab his robot and show off what he did. "Watch. It goes faster. It does flips and spins and brings things." He explained as he let the robot run over his father's desk and then fall off the edge. The robot would have hit the floor and possibly shattered if it had not been for Howard's quick catch._

"_Tony, do you want to go see the big robots and give Mom a break for a bit?" Howard asked as he hoisted Tony up from the floor into his arms._

_Tony was practically bouncing with excitement as Maria sighed with relief. She could chat with Mary for a bit while the boys played._

_Howard took Tony back down the elevator to the factory floor and set him down to explore as soon as they stopped._

"_Stay where I can see you, Tony." Howard warned as Tony gazed awestruck at all the machines working._

_Howard was trying to follow his curious four year old but several employees stopped him to talk to him and he soon lost track of Tony. He excused himself from the foreman he was talking with and start looking when he heard a loud crash, a siren going off, someone screaming and Tony crying. Howard ran over to the direction of the chaos and found Tony on the floor, scared and tears rolling down his cheeks, a mechanical arm on the floor and a section chief screaming at Tony._

"_What the hell is going on here?" Howard roared as he picked up his crying son._

"_Your son threw his toy under the machine and then tried to get it, knocking the arm over as he did." The worker spat._

"_I didn't throw it. My robot fell. I didn't make the arm fall down. He knocked into it when he grabbed my arm." Tony said through sobs._

"_Sir, that is a lie. Who are you going to believe – me or your son?"_

"_I am going to believe my four year old son," Howard stated as Tony buried his head in his father's neck, hiccupping as he tried to stop crying. "And you're fired. Get out of my sight." He said coldly before picking up Tony's robot and heading back upstairs._

_Upon getting back to his office, Maria met Howard at the door, having heard what happened through someone calling Mary, and took Tony into her arms to comfort her baby boy. Tony was still sniffling as Maria took a seat on the couch and wrapped his blanket around him, rocking him gently to soothe him._

"_What happened Howard?"_

"_An idiot happened and then tried to blame Tony for his stupidity." Howard stated as he reclined back in his chair and set Tony's robot on his desk. He then really looked at the robot and the 'upgrades' Tony made to it. He had replaced the straight wheels with ones on spinning rigs and added springs to the back of the feet. He also made the hands open and close. "Maybe Tony should make the repairs to the machine that the idiot broke. Did you actually look at what he did? This is good. I mean really good." Howard stated, clearly impressed._

"_You know I get nervous when he takes things apart. Don't you remember the toaster incident?" Maria stated as she noted Tony was falling asleep._

"_Yes, I remember the toaster incident," Howard deadpanned. "He just took that apart because he wanted to see how it worked. This, he made better."_

"_Howard, Anthony almost set fire to the kitchen when he took apart the toaster."_

"_I stopped him before that happened. Tony wasn't even hurt with it."_

"_That is not the point. I don't want him hurt when one of his little science projects goes awry."_

"_He's a tough little kid. He can deal with quite a bit."_

"_Then why was he crying when you came up?"_

"_Because the idiot I just fired grabbed his arm and yelled at him."_

"_Sometimes I think this place is more dangerous than New York." Maria sighed._

"_And yet, Tony becomes a sand demon whenever we're here," Howard mused and then the idea struck him. "I'll take the weekend off and we'll all head to the beach. I promise."_

"_I am holding you to that, Howard. You say ocean in front of Anthony and he won't stop bugging me until you take him."_

"_I promised, didn't I?"_

"He did keep his promise," Mary stated to Pepper as she put the robot aside. "The man built weapons for a living but Maria could put Howard Stark in his place real quick."

"Did this little robot cause any more problems?" Pepper asked.

"Not that day…"


	2. Chapter 2

After getting a message on her cell phone during the night from Tony via Jarvis that went along the lines of 'fishing isn't so good…need to stay a few more days,' Pepper decided to head into the office early to see how much more of the box she could get through. This box and Mary were like a book she just couldn't put down when it came to Tony.

Most of the building was still empty when Pepper went back into Tony's office and started with the baby book first before everyone got there. Just by looking at the layout and styling, she could tell how meticulous Maria Stark had to have been. The book started with his first baby picture, the one they take in the hospital and a copy of his birth certificate underneath. Mary was right; Tony was a cute baby with his messy dark hair and dark knowing eyes. As she turned the pages, she found all the typical things that most baby books had – the footprints, his hospital bracelet, first hair cut. Then there were the pictures. Howard and Maria Stark in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree with an eight month old Tony in Maria's arms. The family playing on the beaches of California with a huge sand castle. What Pepper was surprised about though was no birthday party pictures. There were many pictures of Tony as a baby up through at least ten but no birthday parties. Pepper assumed that Tony would have had huge parties from his parents since he was the only child of Howard Stark.

"Mary? Feel like walking down memory lane again?" Pepper asked with a smile. "I'll provide the snacks."

'You don't have to bribe me to reminisce. I love this stuff." Mary explained as she stepped away from her desk and ducked into Tony's office. "What can I help you with, dear?"

"I was going through the box and his baby book and I didn't see any photos from any birthday parties, except for his first. Where are all of them?" Pepper asked.

"There actually won't be many of them," Mary said a bit sadly. "I only remember one…his eighth birthday and it was not a happy one," she added as she pulled out an invitation.

_It was two weeks before Tony's eighth birthday and his parents were throwing him a huge birthday party and letting him invite as many kids from school as he wanted mostly because he would not be seeing many of them next year when he starts high school. Genius always has a price and for Tony, it's friends his own age._

_The party was Maria's idea. She had often watched as Tony tried to play with the other children on playgrounds and a few would until Tony's genius would slip out in what he said. The children would then look at him in confusion and walk away from him, leaving him alone. What made matters worse was that Tony was not going to play dumb just to fit in. He wasn't raised to deny his gifts but to embrace them and be grateful for what he had, remembering that many were not as fortunate as he was. Maria never brought this up to Howard because Tony just lit up when he got to spend time with his father and she believed that letting her husband know how lonely their son really was would hurt them both._

_As the party approached, so many positive responses came in it had actually surprised Maria. Maybe she should have suggested this a while ago. Tony would actually have other children to play with. _

_As the day got closer, Tony's excitement built exponentially. Not even Howard could contain him with letting him help with things in the garage. Usually getting Tony covered in motor oil and engine grease kept him in one spot for a while. He would spend a few minutes with his father until his birthday was brought up and then he started bouncing with joy and caused a few unwanted stains on his mother's expensive Persian rug, which Maria made him scrub out as a reminder not to do it again. She didn't blame Tony though; she blamed Howard for getting their son up to his neck in oil._

_On Tony's birthday, there were actually two parties going on at once. One was for the adults to socialize at, mostly employees and family friends. The other was the one for the children. As the adults started arriving, Tony parked himself on the window seat so he could see the driveway. He was watching all the people arrive and he was anxiously waiting for his friends. Tony recognized some of his father's guests as they entered the house and wished him a happy birthday – Mary, his father's secretary and Obadiah Stane, his father's business partner – but no children._

_Tony's party was supposed to start at two in the afternoon and by half past three, not one child had shown up that he had invited. His happy smile had faded and sadness was quickly descending on him as most of the adults forgot that Tony was even sitting there._

_Maria was furious about being lied to but her heart was breaking as she watched Tony sit at the window, hoping his friends would show up. It killed her when she saw tears rolling down his face as the minutes ticked by. She set her glass down on a side table and quickly crossed the room, taking the spot across from Tony on the window seat, opening her arms as an invitation to her son._

_Tony looked up and nearly fell into his mother's embrace, sobbing silently as his mother stroked his hair. "No one likes me," he whispered. "Why don't they like me?" Tony sobbed._

_"They don't know what they are missing, sweetie," Maria whispered as tears filled her eyes. She looked over to Howard, her eyes pleading to get rid of everyone as their son's heart broke._

_Howard saw the look from his wife and his crying son and made some believable excuses to end things a bit earlier than expected. Once the last person had left, Howard took a seat behind Tony and lifted him up into his lap._

_Tony responded by curling into his father just as he did with his mother, tears silently falling as he rested his head against his father's chest._

_"He thinks that no one likes him," Maria repeated since Tony wasn't talking._

_Howard sighed deeply. "It's nothing like that, Tony. They don't understand you. You're different than most of them. You're very special and very smart. Kids are hesitant when it comes to things they don't understand."_

_"I don't have to be smart. I can play with them." Tony said quietly through sniffs._

_"You should not have to change just because of them. If they don't get how special you are as you are then they are not worth it. They will realize it one day and when that day comes, all of them will want to be around you and you'll be able to decide which ones you want to give your time to." Howard said gently._

_"When will that be?" Tony asked as he looked up at his father._

_"I can't tell you," Howard answered honestly as he hugged his son. "I'm still waiting on some of the people who did the same thing to me." He said as he felt his son relax against him and there was a hint of a smile._

_Maria saw Tony smile and that warmed her heart. "I promised you a birthday party and that's what you're going to get. It's your birthday; you tell me what you want to do."_

_"Do I have any presents?" Tony asked since he hadn't seen any of them._

_"Do you have presents? Of course you do. Did you forget who your parents are here?" Howard said with a laugh as he called Edwin to open the dining room doors where Tony's birthday party had been set up. In the corner of the room past all the balloons and streamers was a pile of presents that could have been taller than Tony was. "Are those enough or do I need to go get more?" Howard joked as he let Tony tear into them._

_After going through the board games, remote controlled cars, action figures and water guns, Tony got to the last two gifts, the ones with the cards. He went for the big one first, his father's. Tony opened the card and smiled. He never read the cards aloud and neither parent ever knew what the other wrote. He tore off the paper to reveal a brand new bike since he was quickly outgrowing his old one._

_"I don't want to trying to upgrade this one without me, understood?" Howard told him._

_"Yes Dad." Tony deadpanned as he moved to the smaller of the two. He opened his mother's card and felt a great deal better. Tony tore into the box and pulled out a stuffed Mickey Mouse. He was a little confused until he saw the envelope in Mickey's hands. "Disney World? We're going to Disney World?" Tony screamed as he hugged both of his parents._

_"Yes baby. I figured you and your dad would love EPCOT." Maria said with a smile as she hugged Tony. "The real question is if I'll ever get the two of you out."_

"Well that explains the mouse ears I found in the bottom." Pepper exclaimed as she closed the baby book.

"Those may have been Howard's." Mary said with a laugh. "Unfortunately, I don't think Tony has been back since."

"I may have to take him again." Pepper laughed. "I am sure Rhodey would love it."

"Be prepared to have to drag him out of Epcot."


	3. Chapter 3

Evening had just fallen in Malibu when Pepper returned to Tony's mansion with a small wire sculpture in her hands. When she got to the house, she noticed that the lights were on and dimmed. She walked inside and instantly caught the scent of shampoo, the fireplace and pizza. Pepper quickly put the wire sculpture behind her back as she walked into the living room to start her search for Tony.

Pepper didn't have to look far at all. Tony was stretched out on his living room couch in his MIT sweatshirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants with a big blanket wrapped around him watching _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_. There was a half-eaten bag of Oreos on the table with a jar of peanut butter next to him. Pepper watched him from the shadows for a few moments with a smile. Tony grabbed one of the cookies, licked all the cream out from the middle, replaced it with peanut butter, dunked it in what looked like chocolate milk and then stuffed the whole thing in his mouth.

"How was fishing?" Pepper asked as she kissed Tony on the forehead, using the code they had created for her benefit when talking about Iron Man. Tony went hunting, fishing or gathering. Hunting meant the Middle East. Fishing meant Europe or northern Asia. Gathering meant the western hemisphere.

"It got progressively better. I even managed to flop a few big ones on the dock," Tony said with a smile, continuing the fishing metaphor.

"How did you ever come to start eating Oreos like this? You have to admit that it is a little odd." Pepper said as she noted the small mess on the table.

"I always have. Rhodey tried to break me of this in MIT by trying to get me to switch to Reese's peanut butter cups but it just wasn't the same." Tony admitted as he popped another cookie in his mouth. "What's behind your back?"

"It's nothing," Pepper said a little too quickly. "I hope you ate dinner before your snack attack here."

"Yeah, pizza. There's a few slices left in the kitchen if you want any," Tony offered as he tried to peek behind her. "If it's nothing, can I see?"

"No, you can't."

"What is it? Girl stuff?"

"No, it is not girl stuff." Pepper protested. "It's nothing. Just forget about it."

"How often do I listen when you tell me to forget about something?" Tony asked as he sat up and turned to face Pepper.

"Never," Pepper sighed.

"So, either you're going to either tell me or show me what you have behind your back or I am going to have to play dirty. Which one, Pepper?"

"What does playing dirty entail?" Pepper questioned.

"It could include but is not limited to pillow fights, me asking Jarvis, or just picking you up and tickling it out of you. I don't care if you're wearing a skirt or not, I'll enjoy the view. So, make your choice." Tony said as he pushed his blanket off as he was seemingly preparing to pounce.

Pepper took a tentative step back from the couch as she saw the playful look in Tony's eyes. Before she could take two steps back, he had grabbed her around the knees and threw her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Pepper screamed as she tried to wriggle free from his strong embrace.

"I warned you," Tony said with a laugh as he picked up what Pepper had been holding off the floor. "Where did you get this?"

"It was in your desk when I was cleaning it," Pepper gasped out. "Can you please put me down?"

"Since you asked nicely," Tony laughed as he set Pepper down on the couch next to him and he wrapped himself up in the blanket again.

"So you actually know what that thing is?" Pepper asked.

"Of course I do, I made it." Tony said matter of factly. "It is a spitball launcher…well more specifically a spitball catapult. It was accurate over twenty yards to within a centimeter. I would have to test it out to see if it still is."

"When did you make a spitball catapult?"

Tony thought about it for a moment. "Freshman year of high school in social studies."

"I pictured you as a good boy in school. What were you doing with that?"

"I was generally a 'good boy' as you put it but the teacher was droning on about World War II and the Atomic Bomb. I already knew everything there was about the Atomic Bomb since my father designed it. Hell, I knew the schematics for the damn thing. So I was bored and I started to dismantle my notebook. I eventually got the wire out and I kept playing with it until I had whipped this up. My teacher didn't like it very much. He called my Dad about it."

"Why didn't he like it very much?" Pepper asked as she looked at the little piece of metal again with a different sight now that she knew what it was.

"Probably because I hit him in the head with a spitball. I scored a few bonus points with my classmates. I didn't get stuffed in a locker for a few days by the seniors. My physics teacher loved it and even let me demonstrate it in class with target practice while he used it to explain Newton's Laws."

"You got stuffed in lockers?"

"Unfortunately," Tony sighed. "I was eight and small so I fit perfectly inside and the upperclassmen weren't exactly thrilled when I showed them up on a regular basis…right up until I graduated in three years instead of four." Tony said as he was balling up a small piece of paper and aiming his catapult towards a potted plant to see if it was still accurate.

"What did your Dad say? Was he angry?"

Tony fired his weapon and hit the plant dead on. "Not at me. He loved it. He was mad at the teacher for yelling at me for it and taking it away from me. The teacher tried to argue with him but my Dad gave the argument that weapon designing ran in the family. That teacher never did like me very much though. He thought I was too smart for my own good." He explained. "Hey Pepper…give me a target."

"I am not going to give you a target, Tony."

Tony then had a smirk on his face as he thought of a target on his own. He balled up another bit of a napkin, loaded the catapult and fired. The ammo landed right between Pepper's breasts, much to Tony's delight.

"That was not funny, Tony." Pepper said as she playfully smacked him before trying to fish out the ammo as discretely as possible.

"I thought it was," Tony said in his own defense. "You know, I can help you get that out."

"In your dreams, Tony," Pepper joked.

"I think that would be incentive for me to go to bed," Tony said as he mocked a yawn that turned into a real one. "Want to join me?"

"Go to sleep, Tony." Pepper told him as he got up from the couch and started upstairs to his bedroom.

Tony paused at the foot of the steps. "Tuck me in?"

"Go to sleep, Tony." Pepper repeated with a smile at his persistence.

Tony took a few more steps and stopped again. "No good night kiss?"

"Good night, Tony." Pepper stated.

Tony climbed the rest of the stairs and went into his bedroom. He put his blanket back on his bed and crawled underneath it. "Is a hug asking too much?" he called out the door.

"Are you ever going to stop and go to sleep, Tony?" Pepper called back as she was cleaning up the mess he had left.

"Not until I get at least one of the things I asked for. Come on, the last one isn't that much."

Pepper sighed because Tony was right. A hug wasn't that much and considering all that she had found out already from the box of memories, it could probably do him some good. "You'll have to come back down to get it."

"That's mean," Tony called down. "I just got comfortable up here and got everything warmed up since I am by myself here."

"It's up to you, Tony." Pepper called back.

Just a few second later, Tony reappeared and was heading down the stairs but stopped at the middle. "I am renegotiating. I came half way now you have to do the same."

Pepper got up from the couch and climbed the rest of the stairs to give Tony his hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close as his arms wrapped around her waist. Before pulling apart, Tony snuck a quick kiss on the cheek before he headed back up to bed.

Once Jarvis confirmed that Tony was asleep, Pepper pulled out her blackberry and made a few more notes about Tony's childhood. All of this information she needed for a surprise for him to be given at the appropriate time.


	4. Chapter 4

Pepper had to be careful how she went about her digging. She had to make sure that Tony did not catch her doing it for several reasons. One, he would have been angry at her invasion to his past without permission. Two, it would ruin her surprise for him. So if she wanted to delve into her newest favorite book, she had to wait until Tony was out of the way. For once, she almost looked forward to when he went playing as Iron Man. Her next trip down nostalgia road was started when she found Tony's acceptance letter to M.I.T. from 1984. Pepper knew Mary would not be able to help much on this one but she had another source…a better source for this…one Lt. Colonel James Rhodes, USAF.

One evening after work, while Tony was off someplace, Pepper surprised Rhodey by showing up on his doorstep with pizza and beer and the M.I.T. letter.

"You know that if Tony finds out I told you any of this, I am going to regret teaching him how to fight," Rhodey commented as he let Pepper in and relieved her of the pizza and beer. "What is all of this? A bribe?"

"A way to buy your silence if necessary," Pepper said with a smile as she entered and took a seat on Rhodey's couch. "Because if Tony finds out what I am doing, he may not like me that much either."

"What could you do that would make him not like you when he is just short of a babbling idiot around you?" Rhodey asked as he popped open one of the beers for Pepper and one for himself and grabbed a slice of pizza.

"Well…I have been kind of doing a little snooping into his childhood," Pepper admitted shyly. "I found this box in his office filled with stuff and I got an idea for a surprise for Tony. I just need some help filling in some of the pieces. Mary has been a doll about this but she can't tell me everything." She explained as she slid the letter forward. "You met him at M.I.T., didn't you?"

Rhodey picked up the letter and remembered the one he received that was similar to it. "Yup. Freshman year around the end of September."

"Would you tell me about it?"

"As long as Tony doesn't find out I told you…" Rhodey preempted his story with while grabbing a second slice of pizza. "At freshman orientation, the whole class had been buzzing with the rumors that we were going to have an eleven year old in our class. Most of us thought it was complete bull shit until Howard Stark walked in to the first assembly of students with a scrawny little kid behind him. Now, at M.I.T., Howard Stark is a god among men to physics and engineering geeks. He was one of the inventors of the Atomic Bomb and brilliant when it came to weaponry. We all thought he was going to speak to us as an alumnus and inspire our future greatness. Things changed fast when he turned around and hugged Tony good bye and sent him to join the rest of the class and left.

"Tony really was little back then. He was only eleven among primarily eighteen year olds so he was immediately ostracized. Not one person talked to him during the meet and greet times. He just slipped off by himself and no one took any care…even me but I'll get to that.

"I saw Tony a few times around campus during the first few weeks. It took him three trips from the bookstore to get all of his books back to his dorm. He had paid for all of them first and then carried them back in shifts because he did have a lot of heavy ones and of course no one would even offer to help the kid who was going to beat everyone grades wise. He was in a few of my classes as well and he always sat in the front because he had a tape recorder and recorded every lecture. That first semester, he couldn't write fast enough to keep up with the notes so he would tape it and rewrite them later.

"I met him truly for the first time towards the end of the first month of school in the dining hall…"

_It was a chilly late September night in Cambridge, Massachusetts and James Rhodes was running at full speed across the campus to try to get to the dining hall and not get drenched by the autumn rain in the process. He entered the main dining hall and as he shook the water off of his jacket, he spotted his class' famous child undergrad sitting on a bench across from the entrance to the food line. Upon a closer inspection, Rhodey noticed that the kid looked positively miserable. His head was down and his knees were brought up to his chest protectively and he looked as if he were going to crumble right then and there._

_"Something wrong, kid?" Rhodey asked as he approached the boy._

_The boy's head snapped up in shock when he heard someone talking to him. It was then that Rhodey could see that his eyes had been rimmed in red._

_"Nothing much…"the boy whispered. "I am just trying to figure out how to get dinner."_

_"You just go in there and buy it. Not that hard. I thought you were supposed to be some super genius." Rhodey said flatly._

_The boy's face immediately fell at the tone he received and tears welled up in his eyes again. "It would be that easy if I had any money left," he spat through his tears. "My books were more expensive than I thought and I ran out of my allowance money and my Dad hasn't sent next month's yet. I don't know when it's coming. He may not bring it until parents' day since he said I should have enough." He babbled out quickly as the tears came harder._

_Rhodey heard the rapid explanation come pouring out of the kid's mouth and he immediately regretted the sarcasm he had used earlier. He had momentarily forgotten that no one talked to this kid and then the one person who does insulted him. Smooth move there._

_"Listen, I'm sorry about what I said before. How about I make it up to you? Do you want to join me for dinner?" Rhodey offered._

_The boy looked up and a small smile formed on his lips. "I can't pay for it though. I don't want to be some charity case."_

_"My treat." Rhodey reassured him. "You can pay me back some other time."_

_The boy didn't have to answer. His stomach did first with a loud growl. "Thank you."_

_"You got a name?" Rhodey asked as he offered his hand to help him off the bench._

_"Anthony Stark but the only person who calls me Anthony is my Mom," he stated as he stood up and wiped his face. "Most people call me Tony."_

_"Well Tony, it's pleasure to finally meet you. James Rhodes but just call me Rhodey."_

_"How did you get that name? Did you work for a band?" Tony asked as he picked up his jacket, which was obviously big on him. _

_"Not exactly," Rhodey stated. "There were a lot of people named James in my high school. So many so that it was easier to just call people by their last names. Rhodes somehow got changed to Rhodey and it just stuck." He explained._

_They entered the cafeteria line and Rhodey watched at how little Tony actually took…barely enough to feed a cat much less an eleven year old boy. But he didn't grab things quickly either. He was looking at the prices._

_"Tony, don't worry about the cost. I told you I got it. I don't think my parakeet at home could live off of what you have there." Rhodey said._

_Tony didn't say anything but quickly added a cheeseburger, fries and a soda to the few cookies and an apple he had grabbed._

_After paying and finding a table, Tony quickly dug into what he had, giving away exactly how hungry he had been._

_"Mind if I ask you a few questions?" Rhodey asked as he watched Tony inhale what was in front of him._

_"Go ahead. I'm used to it." Tony said, trying not to talk with his mouth full._

_"First, when was the last time you ate?"_

_"Yesterday at breakfast." Tony said quietly. "I told you I ran out of money." he added as his voice cracked with emotion again._

_Rhodey quickly held up his hand to stop him. The last thing he really wanted to deal with was having Tony break down again. "How old are you anyway?"_

_"I'm eleven. I'll be twelve in April."_

_"How are you in college at eleven?"_

_"I started high school at eight and finished in three years." Tony said as he was playing with one of his fries in the ketchup._

_"Where are you from?"_

_"New York originally…Long Island to be exact…but my parents hop coasts a lot when my Dad is checking on his factories." Tony said. "What about you?"_

_"Philadelphia, PA…the home of Ben Franklin, the Liberty Bell and Rocky Balboa."_

_"Good movie." Tony commented._

_"Do you have a major in mind yet?"_

_"Physics and mechanical engineering," Tony responded quickly. "I could probably add something with computers as well if I have time."_

_"Why those?"_

_"My Dad wanted me to do physics and I picked mechanical engineering because I love taking apart and rebuilding things. I have been doing it for as long as I can remember with my toys and I did it to one of my Dad's engines at six. He didn't like it very much until he found out I increased the horsepower. They also said they have a robotics department. The computers came up because they are just easy. I built my first circuit board at four." Tony rambled out quickly. When you got him talking, it was hard to shut him up._

_"You seriously did all that?" Rhodey asked with a mixture of confusion and shock._

_Tony nodded and then paused because he recognized that look. It was the same look that all the other kids had given him before they ran away. "Yeah. I did most of them with my Dad."_

_"My Dad just took us fishing. I never built engines and circuit boards with him."_

_"We went fishing too. My Dad would take his boat out when we were in California and we went deep sea fishing. Last summer, my Dad flopped a shark on the deck. Those things keep the fight up for a while." Tony said happily. "He had to shoot it to get it to stop flipping around and snapping at his shoes."_

_Tony and Rhodey had sat there for over two hours talking. It wasn't until Rhodey saw Tony try to hide a yawn that he even noticed that it was after 9:30. Rhodey forgot how young Tony was and didn't have the stamina to stay up as late as he did._

_"How about I walk you back to your dorm?" Rhodey suggested._

_"You don't have to do that. I have been going back and forth just fine for a month now." Tony stated._

_"Yeah but it would make me feel better if I didn't have to worry about you getting your ass kicked. You are from New York. You are wearing a Yankees hat. Even I guy from Philly knows that combination in this part of the world is a recipe for getting your ass kicked by a Red Sox fan." Rhodey said, trying to add a little humor to cover up his obvious concern for his young friend._

_On their way back to Tony's dorm room, which happened to be in the building next to Rhodey's, they walked by a meeting of the computer club building a few circuit boards and Tony had to go in despite Rhodey trying to stop him._

_"You're doing that wrong." Tony pointed out to a senior._

_"Excuse me?"_

_"You're doing that wrong. You're going to fry it." Tony stated._

_"Go away, kid. I have been doing this for probably longer than you have been alive."_

_"Well, I have been building them since I was four and my Dad even used one in one of his weapons. So, don't listen to me. Fry it and start over." Tony stated as he crossed his arms in front of him, knowing that he was right._

_"Fine, you think you can do this better. Go ahead." The senior challenged. "You destroy it and you'll pay dearly."_

_Tony stepped up to the board and quickly dismantled hours of work. Rhodey watched him make a few switches to the components and rebuild it within an hour and present it back to the senior._

_"It's power output is increased while using less to do it. You'll still have reserved power unlike last time when you had half of what I just did." Tony stated._

_The senior ran some diagnostics on it and found Tony was telling the truth. He didn't say anything but left with a look of disgust on his face._

_"Do you get that look a lot?" Rhodey asked as he nudged Tony along._

_Tony nodded. "People don't like being shown up…especially smart people."_

_"And you just showed up the president of the computer club."_

_Upon getting back to Tony's room, Rhodey noticed that one side was completely bare._

_"Where's your roommate?" Rhodey asked as Tony flopped on his bed._

_"He left two weeks ago." Tony stated. "He couldn't stand living with me since he said I cramped his social life. He moved out and my Dad bought out the room for me for the rest of the year so I didn't get someone else like him."_

_'No one really likes Tony at all.' Rhodey thought to himself. "You're lucky. Mine wets his bed nearly every night and doesn't speak English." He told Tony, trying to make him feel better. "Speaking of that, I should get back."_

_"Will I see you tomorrow?" Tony asked hopefully._

_Rhodey didn't answer right away. He was taking a chance being friends with this kid but then he looked into Tony's eyes and saw the hope there. "Of course you will."_

"The next semester, I became his roommate. I couldn't stand mine any longer." Rhodey added.

"I would love to hear more about the M.I.T. years. What else can you tell me?" Pepper asked eagerly.

"To get past the puberty years, which Tony made me swear in blood that I wouldn't share," Rhodey stated. "You will definitely need more than just pizza."


	5. Chapter 5

Pepper's quest for Tony's illusive childhood secrets took a strange turn one day as she was making his bed.

Tony never made his own bed unless he was trying to impress someone. He didn't see the point in it since the bed was just going to get messed up again when he went to sleep, if he went to sleep. Leaving it undone was a time saver when one barely makes it into the bed when he is about to collapse from exhaustion.

Pepper always made Tony's bed when she had to pick out his tie to match his suit. It was a personal quirk of hers that she could never give up. This time, as she was making the bed, Pepper tripped over something soft under her feet. Thinking Tony had thrown one of his pillows during the night; she bent down to pick it up but did not pull out a pillow. She pulled out a tail. Pepper knelt down and pulled out a stuffed lion. It was at least two feet long from its nose to the base of its tail. What was once a very expensive toy, its mane and fur showed serious signs of being love worn and patched up a few times. Another mystery from Tony's childhood that Tony may have to answer her questions on himself.

Pepper finished making the bed, chose a black pinstripe suit with a red tie and picked up the lion to take it downstairs to Tony. Just as she was descending the steps, she heard Tony shout out a list of expletives in pain from the garage. Pepper dropped the lion on the couch and ran downstairs to help Tony.

When she got down into the garage, Pepper saw Tony cradling his left hand and trying to stop the heavy bleeding with a rag off of his workbench.

"Tony, what happened?" Pepper asked with concern as she walked Tony over to the sink to clean out his wound.

"I was working on the hot rod and the screwdriver slipped," Tony ground out as he flinched back when the water hit the open wound. "Damn it…that hurts."

Pepper knew after so many times of patching Tony up after missions, distraction and not reprimands was the best painkiller. "Tony, tell me about the hot rod."

Tony looked up at Pepper in shock. "Who are you and what have you done with my Pepper?"

"I'm serious Tony. Tell me about the hot rod."

"In the like the twelve years you have worked for me and stayed with me, you have never asked me or shown even the slightest interest in the hot rod. If anything, I think contempt and jealousy slipped in there a few times."

"Maybe I'm changing," Pepper posed as she examined the large scratch on Tony's palm. "The hot rod is important to you and I want to know about something that holds your attention so intensely for so long."

"You're serious about this?" Tony asked again to make sure he was hearing things right.

"Yes, please…"

"Okay…" Tony shrugged as he tried to remember the whole story. "My first summer home from M.I.T., I was sort of driving my mother nuts in a week. I had gotten out on May fifteenth and by the twentieth she was running out of things to keep me occupied since my father was so busy with work.

"One day, my father came home with this rusted out piece of shit that he claimed was a classic car under all the rust and crap. I still swear he found it in a junkyard and paid twenty bucks for it. He brought it home and parked it in our garage, much to my mother's displeasure. I think she was the one who first called it a rusted out piece of shit and that was the first time I ever heard my mother say anything like that. My father appeased her by telling her that it was something to keep me occupied for the summer and it was something that could keep both him and me out of trouble. She very reluctantly agreed as long as we didn't get hurt by it or track grease into the house.

"I think it was a day or two later on one of my father's days off, he pulled me inside from the pool and walked me down to his garage with my eyes closed. Now, when I was younger, I wasn't allowed down there much without my father since he was worried about me disassembling things he was working on. I think I upgraded one of his things one too many times and it blew up when he tried to. That got me grounded for two months."

"I can so picture that one." Pepper interjected.

"Do you want to hear the story or not? You're the one who bugged me to tell it." Tony huffed.

"Continue please…"

"Thank you," Tony sighed. "Anyway, he covered my eyes as he walked me down there. He told me that he had a project for the both of us that he knew I would love. This got me excited and he uncovered my eyes and I saw the rusted out piece of shit. I looked at him as if he was joking and wondering what he intended to do with this thing. He told me that he wanted to restore it and then upgrade it. I still thought he was crazy. That was when he opened the hood and showed me that the inner workings weren't actually that bad. Then I began to see the potential.

"My father gave me the first job of rebuilding the engine. Since I had been doing that since I was six and he knew it would keep me busy for days on end, he suggested that. My mother was very grateful for that. I spent the better part of a month dismantling it and going over every inch of it with a fine tooth comb before putting it back together and tricking the hell out of it. The only time my mother got pissed about that was when I got grease footprints on her Persian rug. The stain still remains today.

"Every time my dad had some time off from work, we would work on the car to restore it. By the time I had to go back to school, we had only gotten the engine and carburetor done. But he promised that we would work on it every time I was home. We fixed the interior, redid the body work, painted it and made that rusted out piece of shit a thing of beauty but there was still so much more to do on it. He kept that promise for the next five years until…"

Tony paused as he got to the point when his parents died. He couldn't mention it now. "My dad had said one day he would give me the keys to it when he felt I was ready for it," he said in a quieter and sadder tone as the pain slipped into his voice. "I got the keys for my eighteenth birthday…but he wasn't there to give them to me. Rhodey was. He thought my dad had bought me three cars for my birthday when he saw the three sets of keys. I had to correct him in saying that he bought me two cars and gave me the one we made."

Pepper saw the joy and happiness drain out of Tony's face when he mentioned the keys. Something that should have been happy had been an extremely sad moment. "Is that why you never finish it?" she asked as finished bandaging and taping up Tony's hand without him even noticing.

Tony nodded. "We were supposed to finish it together and now he can't. I wouldn't feel right about completing it without him. It was his idea."

"I don't think he would be upset if you finished it, Tony." Pepper told him as she let go of his injured hand.

"But I would be…" Tony sighed as he turned back to the hot rod. "Thank you, Pepper," he added as he pointed to his hand and went back to work.

Pepper looked back at Tony with a sadness that wasn't there before. She could see the pain still coming off of him in waves and now regretted bringing this up. She didn't think first. As she went upstairs, Pepper hoped she would have better luck with the lion.


	6. Chapter 6

Pepper returned to Tony's house very early in the morning to begin her day. No matter what, it was always easier to get things done when Tony was still asleep. She entered the mansion and found the lights and windows dark, a signal she had learned that Jarvis had adapted to let her know if he was asleep or in the workshop. If Tony was in the work shop, Jarvis would not turn the lights completely off but down low. If he was sleeping, the house would be dark.

"Good morning, Ms. Potts," Jarvis said welcomingly.

"Good morning, Jarvis," Pepper replied as she stepped into the kitchen to make herself a cappuccino. She noticed the lion was still on the couch where she had dropped it meaning Tony had not even come up from the workshop since she left. "Jarvis? What do you know about that stuffed lion on the couch?"

"I only know what I have observed, Ms. Potts."

"What have you observed?"

"Mr. Stark has had it for as long as he has had me in existence but he didn't bring it out of the back of the closet until he came home. On some of the nights when he actually tries to sleep, he has taken to sleeping with it."

"Has Mr. Stark slept at all tonight?"

"He ordered me to turn down the lights because he claimed he would be heading to bed shortly. I reminded him of the time several times but he ignored it."

Then, almost on cue, Tony slowly came up the stairs. He was yawning and barely keeping his eyes open as he almost mechanically made his way through his house to the path that lead to a comfortable bed for a few hours. Just as he was passing the couch, he stopped at the lion. He scratched his head in wonder at how the lion got down to the couch. Brushing it off as if he did it, he picked up the lion and tucks it under his arm and proceeds to the stairs.

"Good morning, Tony." Pepper interjected before he got to the steps, at least alerting him to her presence as her eyes went to the lion and then back to Tony.

Tony froze when Pepper spoke and when he saw her eyes go to his lion; he quickly put the lion to the side that was not facing her. "Hi…you're still here?" he asked.

"I just came back, Tony."

"Well, I'm going to bed. Aren't you proud of me?" Tony said as he tried to duck around Pepper to avoid a discussion he didn't want to have and to hide his embarrassment at being caught with the stuffed lion.

"I am glad that you are getting some sleep but most people sleep at night…not daytime." Pepper called out. "I didn't know you were going to have a fuzzy sleeping companion though."

Tony stopped on the stairs with his back to Pepper. That crack was low. "Well, I don't have a redheaded one so Jupiter here has to do." He shot back as he climbed a few more steps.

"Jupiter seems very cute but looks like he has seen better days," Pepper called up.

"Leave the lion out of this, Pepper," Tony growled from the top of the stairs.

"How long has he been living in your room, Tony?"

"Not telling you, Potts."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Tony, that stuffed lion obviously means something to you. You are taking it to a great extent to keep that lion from me. Stuffed animals don't look like that unless they were well loved."

Tony popped his head down from the top of the stairs with an expression on his face that was clearly unhappy. "If I tell you about the lion, will you let me go to sleep afterwards?"

"Of course," Pepper stated. "I'll even cancel your day."

Tony sighed and ducked into his bedroom, changed into a pair of pajama pants and a clean t-shirt and grabbed a blanket and a pillow before coming back downstairs. If he had to tell this, he was damn well going to be comfortable. He threw the pillow on the couch and lay down, pulling the blanket over him as he tucked the lion under it. "You have to promise not to laugh or tell another living soul that you even saw this lion. Not even Rhodey knows about this. I find out you snitched about this and I will fire you."

"I promise, Tony," Pepper said sincerely as she raised her right hand. "I won't tell a soul."

Tony saw the look in her eyes and saw that she was telling the truth. He snuggled a little deeper into his blanket and hugged the lion a little closer since he didn't have to hide it. "My dad got me this when I was six years old after I had earned the nickname Anthony the Lionhearted from him," Tony said through a yawn.

"How did you earn that nickname?" Pepper asked as she took a seat in the chair across from Tony and got comfortable, trying to make him feel at ease with telling her something that he was obviously uncomfortable with.

"My parents and I were on Long Island for the holidays. We had gone there at the beginning of November and stayed well into January. My mom had gone shopping in the city for the day leaving me with my dad on one of his rare days off and it all started with a phone call…"

_It was a crisp and clear December day on Long Island. There had been snow a few days earlier so everything was covered in white still but the streets had long been cleared. Howard Stark was thoroughly enjoying one of his rare days off. As the CEO of Stark Industries, he could set his own schedule and come in whenever he wanted to but his innate work ethic would not let his company go without him at the helm._

_Howard was lounging in his favorite chair reading the New York Times as his son Tony played on the floor with his Hot Wheels cars. His wife, Maria, had gone to Manhattan for the day with a few of her friends to do some Christmas shopping. Howard was watching as Tony took every single piece of track he owned and built a rather substantial course for his cars to go through. Howard was fascinated at how Tony would alter a piece when a car didn't go through as fast as he wanted it to. Tony was systematically going through his course until it ran just as he wanted it to._

_Just after lunch, the day changed for the worst. The phone ringing was just as if the bell towards doom was tolling. Howard picked up the phone and his temper nearly exploded at his unlucky secretary who was summoning him into the office. The irritation in Howard's voice was crystal clear as he fished for his keys._

_"Yes, I understand the urgency but there are reasons why I take days off." Howard growled. A pause. "The point is that I have to bring my son in with me since my wife is off shopping. This had better be quick. I'll be there in an hour or so." He hung up the phone and turned to Tony. "Tony, grab your coat. We have to go to work now."_

_"You said we were going to have fun today." Tony whined. "You promised."_

_"I know I promised Tony and I'll make it up to you later on." Howard said as he helped Tony with his mittens and zipped up his coat._

_Tony's face fell as his father buckled him into the back seat of the car and started the drive from Long Island to Manhattan. He didn't say a word as they drove, sensing his father's aggravation with the situation and not wanting to provoke it. He watched everything go by at over sixty miles an hour._

_As he was driving, Howard made an occasionally glance over at Tony's direction and he could see that his son was hurt by this. He had promised a day of fun and he had to retract it. As he glanced over at Tony one time, his eyes were off the road for a split second too long and the car hit a patch of black ice. The car swerved and spun out off the road landing head first into a tree. After being jerked forward, Howard heard Tony call out to him. He tried to turn around to check on is son in the back seat and found pain shooting through his side._

_"Tony? Are you alright?" Howard called back as calmly as he could as he reached his hand back for Tony, ignoring the pain._

_Tony was shaken up but unharmed. "I'm okay." He said as he grabbed his father's hand._

_Howard felt Tony grab his hand and relief washed over him. Now, there was a different situation. They needed to get help and Howard was in no shape to try at the moment. He didn't think he was injured badly but it was bad enough for the moment. He did not want to have to send Tony but there was no other choice. The parent part of his mind kept saying that this was a bad idea but the fight/flight part spoke louder. "Tony? I'm going to need your help here. Do you remember that road we just passed a little ways back?"_

_"Yeah…"_

_"There was a small town there. I need you to walk back there and get help for us…police, fire or anyone who can help. Can you do that?"_

_"By myself?" Tony asked in a scared tone._

_"Yes, by yourself. You can do this Tony. I have confidence in you."_

_There was a pause and then Howard heard the sound of Tony undoing his seat belt._

_"Good boy," Howard sighed. "Now listen carefully…stay off the road, walk in the snow back to the town. The road will be on your left. Bring back help. Repeat it back to me Tony so I know you understand."_

_"Follow the road back to the town in the snow and bring back help." Tony repeated shakily._

_"That's very good, Tony. Now…go."_

_Tony opened the car door and slipped out, his small feet barely crunching the snow. He started walking back along the road, his feet sinking through the softer snow and soaking his jeans. Tony kept his head up so he could see the road up ahead despite the freezing cold on his face. Once he entered the town, he kept going over in his head what his father had told him…fire or police or someone to help. He looked up and down the streets a few times before he spotted the police station. Tony was freezing but he managed to run to the building when he found it. The sergeant's desk was far taller than Tony was and he had to knock on it to get the officer's attention._

_"Can I help you, son?"_

_"My Dad needs help. The car hit a tree." Tony spat out quickly._

_"Where is your dad?"_

_"On the side of the road."_

_"How did you get here?"_

_"I walked."_

_The officer figured the car must be close if a small boy walked from it into town. He put Tony in the passenger seat of his squad car and let Tony tell him where his father was._

_Just as the boy said, his father's car was just outside of the town. The officer radioed for medical personnel as he eased Howard out of the car._

_"Where's my son?" Howard quickly asked._

_"He's in my squad car." The officer answered as an ambulance arrived. "I have never seen a six year old do something like this."_

_"My son is very special." Howard said as the EMTs looked him over and found nothing more than some bruising. "Now, if you could drop my son and me off at the train station while my car is being towed, I would be very appreciative."_

_"Sir, you were just in an accident."_

_"I am aware of that but I still need to be in Manhattan. I assure you I am perfectly well enough to do this."_

_The officer reluctantly acquiesced to Howard's request and took him and Tony to the closet Long Island Railroad Station._

_On the train, Howard took one of the last available seats and placed Tony on his lap for the short trip to Penn Station. Tony gently placed his head against his father's shoulder, not wanting to hurt him but wanting the comfort. Howard just wrapped his arms around his son, trying to calm him and reassure him._

_Howard did not put Tony down all the way to his office. He had carried him in the cab ride and all the way upstairs, only setting him down right outside of his office door. _

_Mary, Howard's secretary, quickly snapped to attention when she saw her boss arrive. "Sir, I am so sorry to have to disturb you but it was urgent…"_

_Howard quickly cut her off. "Don't worry. First, I would like some coffee and can you get some hot chocolate for Tony?"_

"_With whipped cream and extra marshmallows?" Mary asked which received a big smile from Tony._

"_Yes. Second, I want the reports in question on my desk."_

"_They already are sir. I placed them there after I called."_

"_Did my wife leave any of Tony's toys here?"_

"_I believe she left a blanket and some coloring books, sir."_

"_Get them for me to keep him occupied for a little while. Also, call FAO Schwartz and order a present for Tony."_

"_What shall I order sir?"_

_Howard sent Tony into his office so he would not hear what he said. "Something that represents bravery…a stuffed lion maybe…a big one but not that big that he can't carry it around."_

"_Shall I have it messengered over?"_

"_No, I'll pick it up myself." Howard stated. "Have my driver pick us up when we finish. We'll stop at the store before heading back out to the island. Only if they are going to close are they to send it over."_

"_As you wish sir." Mary said with a smile as she started on her assigned tasks._

_Not long later, Howard was sitting at his desk with his coffee scouring over expense reports that something was off on. Tony had made himself comfortable on the couch under his blanket with his coloring books. Howard got a well needed laugh when he watched Tony try to lick the whipped cream off of his nose. _

_Time had gone by so slowly as Howard went through page after page. He hadn't realized that three hours had gone by. Howard looked over to the couch and found Tony curled on his side under his blanket, sound asleep, the coloring books having been knocked to the floor. He didn't even realize that Tony had fallen asleep but he couldn't blame him._

_Tony stirred under his father's gaze and awoke with a big yawn. "I'm hungry," he whined as he got off the couch and crawled up into his father's lap._

"_So am I, kiddo. We'll get dinner as soon as I am done here." Howard said as he wrapped one arm around his son's waist._

"_What is all of this?" Tony asked as he looked at the papers on the desk._

"_These are expense reports…money going in and out of the company."_

_Tony pointed to a list of figures on one spreadsheet. "This one's wrong." He stated._

_Howard's attention quickly moved to the total Tony pointed to. "What's wrong with it?"_

"_It says three here when it should be a five." Tony stated plainly._

_Howard looked at it and found Tony was indeed right. He kissed the top of Tony's head in gratitude. "I should have asked you sooner."_

"_Who did this? That seven is wrong too." Tony pointed out._

_Howard started laughing. "Obadiah did actually. He is going to have a field day fixing this later." He said as he called his secretary._

_After explaining what needed to be corrected to Mary, Howard gathered up Tony and headed downstairs to the waiting car. Waiting on the back seat was a bag from FAO Schwartz. Even before Howard could signal the driver to leave, Tony was sniffing out the bag._

"_Go ahead Tony. It's for you." Howard encouraged his son._

_Tony dug into the bag and pulled out a two foot long stuffed lion which he then did not put down. The big smile was all the thanks that Howard needed._

"_For Anthony the Lionhearted for his show of bravery and mathematical genius today."_

_Tony hugged the lion tightly as he curled up against his father and fell asleep on the ride home._

"You had heroism in you even back then." Pepper said warmly.

"You don't like it when I play hero." Tony shot back.

"I worry about you. I want you coming back in one piece." Pepper retorted. "You were your Dad's hero that day."

"But not eleven years later…" Tony said as sadness slipped into his voice. He pulled his blanket up and hugged the lion tighter as he was trying to control his emotions.

"Tony, you weren't even there. There was nothing you could have done."

Tony closed his eyes and one tear escaped. "Doesn't make it hurt any less." He whispered. "For weeks after that, I kept Jupiter here with me at night."

"How did you come to name him Jupiter?" Pepper asked, trying to distract Tony before he slipped into darkness.

"My Dad named him." Tony whispered through a yawn. "He wanted Ares first – the god of war – but I scratched that so he picked the king of the gods."

"The name of the king of gods for the king of beasts that belonged to his prince." Pepper said as she looked over at Tony. He had fallen asleep, hugging the lion.


	7. Chapter 7

A few days had past since Pepper had found out about Jupiter, Tony's lion, and she had set out on her quest again. While he was actually in a board meeting, Pepper found a tattered and faded piece of yellow legal paper with what looked like phone numbers scribbled all over it. She pocketed it in her purse and vowed to ask Rhodey about it later on.

Two days later, Pepper got her opportunity to sneak away again. Tony went hunting on a hot tip. She knew he would come back bloodied from this one so she had to be quick. Pepper picked up the requisite bribe for Rhodey, pizza and beer since she wasn't asking about the puberty years, and headed over to his apartment.

"More spy activities, Pepper?" Rhodey asked as he let her in.

"I wouldn't call it spying…this is like reading a good book that you can't put down." Pepper said as she set the pizza and beer on the table and then discretely put the folded piece of paper on top of it.

"I doubt Tony would agree with that assessment," Rhodey said as he reached for a slice of pizza and paused at the piece of paper. "Damn, I haven't seen this thing in a while. I thought this had fallen to myth and legend." He said as he picked up the piece of paper.

"What is that? A listing of all of Tony's old girlfriends?"

"You know as well as I do that Tony has not had a real girlfriend in the traditional sense of the word." Rhodey commented in between bites. "He did make an honest attempt to get them for a bit but they never lasted more than a week or so because of Tony being Tony. That's when he figured one night stands worked better."

"You're saying that he actually had girls for more than one night?"

Rhodey nodded. "Hence the list of phone numbers. That sheet of paper is essentially Tony's little black book. I think he stopped adding to it after one incident I remember where he crossed an angry ex-boyfriend."

"Okay, now you have to tell me."

Rhodey took a swig from the beer bottle, gathering up the liquid courage before speaking. "Okay, this was probably just before you came around. I think Tony was twenty-one at the time, just after he took over the company. He and I had gone out to celebrate and he got roaring drunk. I mean, if you totaled up how much he drank in that one night, he probably polished off a bottle and a half on his own that night. He was coveting some brunette dish as he called it and he was bragging about how many times she had screamed his name two days earlier and I got tired of hearing about it.

"Now, as you well know, when Tony is that drunk, his edit button doesn't work. So he was bragging about his conquests – loudly. Everyone could hear him…including a gorilla that happened to be the ex-boyfriend of the girl he was currently bedding. Everything would have been fine if the gorilla had not heard him…"

_Sitting in a rather posh bar in Los Angeles, Tony was finishing off yet another scotch on the rocks while Rhodey was sticking to beer. Tony was beyond drunk and getting goofy and arrogant on top of it. He had spent the better part of the last two hours and six drinks bragging at how many times his latest conquest hit the peaks of ecstasy with him. Rhodey had stopped trying to shut him up and just let him rant._

_"You know this Crystal…she was screaming my name at the top of her lungs all night two days ago. I swear she couldn't talk the next day at all…" Tony slurred out._

_Rhodey looked up at Tony boasted and saw a 6'4" gorilla approaching the table looking pissed as hell. Rhodey punched Tony in the arm to try to get him to shut up but failed miserably. The gorilla was at the table._

_"Hey! Pretty boy! You're the one my Crystal ditched me for?"_

_Tony eyed the monster in front of him up and down with his drunken glare. "Looks likes she wanted a guy who could actually satisfy her and not one who had to find his equipment." Tony shot back as he slammed back his scotch hard._

_"How can an arrogant little shit like you compare with me? I am twice the man you are."_

_"In mass only," Tony said under his breath. "I could buy and sell you in a heartbeat. Your girlfriend prefers talent, skill and stamina rather than being banged around like a dead fish." Tony challenged as he stood up. "For your information, it's our anniversary today. Two weeks ago, I __gave her an orgasm that you couldn't touch with a vibrator."_

_"Tony, wasn't that two days ago?" Rhodey chimed in, unfortunately encouraging the drunken suicidal fool._

_"That's right…two DAYS ago. Two weeks or two days…really doesn't matter. I made her come so many times that she couldn't walk the next morning and she said she couldn't even find yours with a map and a flashlight." Tony added._

_The gorilla turned beat red and before anyone could blink, Tony had been sent flying over the chair and three feet across the floor with a hard right hook._

_Rhodey knew Tony's style when it came to a flat out fight. He had taught him. Tony was a scrapper. He would keep coming back at you until he had nothing left. For that reason alone, Rhodey was praying to god that Tony would stay down because if he didn't he was certain that his best friend was going to get killed for that smart mouth of his. Rhodey stood up as the gorilla stood over Tony, ready to smack him down again._

_Tony was still conscious but bleeding from his mouth and nose as he tried to get back up to battle it out with the gorilla. Luckily, being drunk off his ass kept him down on the floor and the gorilla backed off, thinking that he had won._

_As soon as the gorilla had backed off, Rhodey quickly picked Tony up off of the floor, threw a few hundreds on the table from Tony's wallet and got the hell out of there._

"Now, what we didn't know was that the gorilla had called the girl in question and told her how Tony was bragging about all they had done and she went over to Tony's house." Rhodey stated as he finished off the beer. "We pull up to Tony's house and he staggers out of the car and ends up face to face with the girl. He smiled at her and then she hauled off and slapped the other side of his face before storming off. The next morning, Tony woke up with two black eyes, a split lip and all swollen and bruised and no memory of how it all happened. After I filled him in on what happened as he was coming off the enormous hangover, he swore up and down that he would never do anything like that again. I found out later that he meant more than one night."

Pepper had to laugh. "His mouth got him in trouble like that another time as well when he mouthed off to an offensive tackle from the Raiders. Now I understand why he kept getting up."

"It was that stubbornness and tenacity of his that kept his ass alive sometimes…in more ways than one."

Pepper looked down at the piece of paper on the table. "What should I do with this?"

"Burn it," Rhodey said quickly. "It's very obvious that Tony has eyes only for one person now."

Pepper looked up at Rhodey since she knew he was talking about her.

"It's entirely up to you, Pepper and he knows that," Rhodey said sincerely. "But unless you flat out tell him that you have no feelings for him at all at the risk of breaking his heart, which I can tell that would be a lie, he will not give up. He loves you and he is trying to show it whenever he's around you but this is virgin territory for him. He's going to bumble it a bit."

"How long have you known this?" Pepper asked cautiously.

"Which end?"

"Both…" Pepper admitted for the first time out loud.

"With Tony, I knew how he felt about you when he hired you. He saw you once before when he was eighteen and never forgot it. You were the girl of his dreams." Rhodey told her. "You…I had a few hunches but I was certain when you saw him get off that plane."

Pepper's face turned as red as her hair as she just got hit the face with something she had tried hard to hide and only recently started to let slip out.

Rhodey took the piece of paper and threw it into his fire place. "How long are you going to make Tony suffer in idiocy trying to impress you?"

"He owes me a drink first."


	8. Chapter 8

The day had started out normal enough. Pepper, curled up on the couch with her stilettos on the floor, had been methodically going through the emails and messages as the sounds of hard rock and heavy metal wafted up from the basement. Pepper had become quite skilled at tuning out Tony's tastes in music and habitually turned it down whenever she descended into the garage. She had become so skilled in her mastery of tuning out the heavy bass of Guns N Roses and Metallica that she didn't even notice when the music had changed in the early evening hours to something distinctly softer.

After washing the grease off of his hands, Tony quietly ascended from the basement and watched silently from the back of the room as Pepper attacked her inbox. He watched for quite some time as he waited for her to set her laptop down so it was out of harm's way. As she was stretching out her shoulders and wrists, Tony crept up behind Pepper and took her hand gently and pulled her around the couch into his arms as he started moving with the music into a waltz, all without saying a word.

Pepper gasped as she found herself in Tony's strong arms, reminding her of the Fireman's Benefit, except this time he was in a t-shirt, jeans and barefoot instead of a tuxedo and she was in a business suit instead of that ridiculously exposing dress. Just like last time, she found herself swept up in Tony's strong lead and being lost in his eyes and getting nervous all over again.

"Pepper, loosen up. I can feel the tension coming off of you in waves." Tony said gently as he spun her across his living room.

"This is just a little odd and unnerving." Pepper admitted.

"How can this be odd or unnerving?" Tony asked as he never stopped dancing, not giving her a chance to get away this time. "It is just us…no benefactors, no press…just us."

"I just have very little confidence dancing and this is a little intimidating," Pepper said shyly.

Tony smiled and pulled her closer to him. "Well, then it is a good thing that I am a good dancer. I won't let you look bad." He said as he spun her once more and smoothly caught her again.

Pepper felt her breath catch again as she was spun around and back into Tony's embrace. "Who taught you how to not look bad?" she asked as she tried to follow him.

"My mother did," Tony said as he heard the music tempo change. "She always did try to make me well rounded but there was the back-story that guys who could dance got the girls. That was what my dad said." He added with a laugh.

"I may get more at ease if you tell me how you learned while we dance," Pepper hinted.

"So you're really going to test my skills here as a multi-tasker, aren't you?" Tony laughed as he dipped Pepper and pulled her back up. "Very well, I guess I can do this if I get to keep you in my arms a little longer. When I was thirteen, my mother decided that I couldn't just stay along the sidelines any longer when all three of us went to a ball or benefit so she got it in her head to make sure I knew how to dance. It all started when I was on Christmas vacation from school. My dad and I were getting some serious work on the hot rod done when my mom came up with this crackpot idea that I needed to learn how to dance since she was tired of seeing me sit all by myself whenever they dragged me to some benefit with them.

"One day about a week before Christmas, she calls me up from the basement and then promptly yelled at me for being covered in grease. After I got cleaned up, she insisted she wanted to teach me how to dance. I was of course very resistant until my father interjected that being a good dancer would get you girls. He claimed that was how he nailed my mother but she said it helped that he was rich and handsome as well. That had an appealing prospect to me at thirteen.

"So, I was pushed into the proper dancing hold and my mother, who showed extreme bravery on this case, tried to show me all these ballroom dances by doing backwards leading…she technically led and I was supposed to follow but make it look like I was leading. Yeah, that drowned like a cat in the middle of the ocean. Then she got the better idea for me to mirror my dad. I have always been a visual and kinesthetic learner so my parents started dancing and I started to mirror what my dad was doing."

"Apparently you learned very well," Pepper said as she actually started to relax and somewhat enjoy herself.

Tony smiled as he felt her back loosen up as they danced. "Yeah…well a few professional lessons didn't hurt much either," he shyly admitted.

"You took ballroom dancing lessons?" Pepper asked incredulously.

"Just a few at my mother's insistence."

"That woman could get you to do anything she wanted, couldn't she?" Pepper asked.

"She's not the only one…" Tony said with a smile and a hidden admission.

Pepper caught the hidden meaning in those words. She saw it in his eyes. "Then why do you fight me so much when it comes to getting to a meeting on time?"

"Because I would rather spend my time with you…alone…and not ten stiffs in suits that are a few steps shy of the undertaker." Tony said.

"You know that isn't very nice, Tony." Pepper chided him.

"It may not be nice but it's true." Tony admitted. "Enough about them. You'll throw my rhythm off."

"I didn't think anything could throw your rhythm off," Pepper said with a slightly playful laugh.

"Want to test that one out?"

Pepper shook her head. "Not yet Tony."

Tony's eyes lit up at the 'yet.' "Not yet means that there is a chance. Maybe my Dad was right."

Pepper smiled in the realization that she had just gotten a free glimpse without even sorting through the box and having to use her skills of investigation to get to the truth.


	9. Chapter 9

The sky over the ocean was just beginning to turn from black to pink when Pepper collapsed on Tony's couch with Metallica's _Fade to Black_ softly wafting up from the garage. Tony had gone off to somewhere in Siberia to blast out a few Cold War relics and had taken considerable damage in the process. The armor was so dented and stuck to him with his own sweat and blood, it had taken damn near two hours to get it all off and Tony tucked into bed.

Pepper was starting to does a bit when she heard footsteps on the steps. Her head spun around quickly, ready to give Tony the verbal lashing of his life but swallowed it and relaxed when she saw Jim Rhodes descending.

"I do want to thank you for coming over," Pepper said tiredly as she moved over to give Rhodey room on the couch to sit. "There was no way I could get him up the stairs."

"Don't mention it, Pepper," Rhodey sighed as he fell on to the aforementioned couch. "I don't know you do it alone most of the times. He didn't even seem like he was that badly banged up this time."

"He didn't require stitches at least," Pepper sighed. "If I had known now back when my mother wanted to teach me how to sew, I don't think I would have blown her off so quickly."

That received a small laugh from Rhodey which was accompanied by a soft but heavy sounding thud. Rhodey swung his foot back again and again heard the sound. He bent over and peered under the couch to find the beat up Xerox box that was held together with duct tape.

"Is this what you have been using to snoop around about Tony?" he asked as he pulled out the box.

"It's not snooping," Pepper insisted. "It was only in his closet at his office. It's not like I broke into a safe or anything."

Rhodey glanced up the darkened stairs with a thought as he flipped the lid off the box. "How long is he usually out for?"

"Tony will be out for hours," Pepper replied. "He was already sleep deprived when he took off last night. That was why I couldn't get him upstairs."

Rhodey nodded, lifted the box on to the table and leaned back on the couch. "Okay then." He stated. "Then you have a good opportunity here. No bribing this time…find something in there and I'll tell you about it."

"I thought you didn't approve of this," Pepper mused as she started looking through the box.

"I don't…but if this is the only way that you'll find out about the back story of the man you obviously care about then I am obliged to help you." Rhodey replied. "Now, dig something out of there."

Pepper stuck her tongue out at Rhodey before she started sifting through the box. In a short while, she pulled out a wad of folded up notebook paper with fuzzy edges. She unfolded the wad of paper and recognized Tony's messy handwriting on it but not much else. "Okay, Colonel Rhodes, explain this."

Rhodey unfolded the paper and laid out the ten sheets on the table. In a mixture of calculations, there were several pieces of a broken down design – robotic schematics. Rhodey smiled when he saw them. "You don't recognize these?"

"I am not the best at deciphering technical drawings…especially when they are on loose-leaf paper."

"Well, in M.I.T. for the Graduate program back then you had a choice – write a Thesis paper or complete a project of your own design. Since we both know how well Tony writes, the project was the obvious way to go. He actually won an award for this one. I know you saw the TIME article on it. These are the schematics for Dummy and Butterfingers." Rhodey explained as he lined them so it looked like one item.

Pepper looked at the papers again, holding them as Rhodey showed her and she saw the shapes of Tony's two oldest robots. "Let me guess, he whipped these up in a few hours."

"Actually no." Rhodey corrected her. "The whole process actually took him three years. The first year was designing. The second year was all the programming and procuring the materials. I really think he tapped his father's suppliers to get all the parts. He didn't even start building it until the third year."

"Tony never spends three years of hard labor on a project." Pepper protested.

"When he didn't have Jarvis to speed things up for him, yes he does. Three years of sweat, blood, tears and sleep deprivation." He explained. "I think if I hadn't been living with him, I would have never have seen him during that time and if I hadn't been watching out for him, those two robots would have killed him."

Pepper kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs under, getting comfortable and ready to hear the story. "Okay, tell me the story of his most frustrating inventions."

"Well, I'll start with the third year since that was the most extreme. He was sixteen when he started it and if didn't see a whole lot of him that year. If he wasn't in the workspace that he had secured to build the robots, he was coming out of freshman girls' dorms. Since he could blend in with the freshman class a lot better, he took advantage of it and did not tell all those girls he was getting and deflowering a few that he was a third year Grad student instead of a younger freshman." Rhodey explained. "Now, our dorm room was on the first floor and his workspace was directly in the basement right underneath. I was trying to sleep after spending hours in the library since I went the thesis route and I heard Tony swearing like a drunken sailor at the top of his lungs through the floor. The first night I heard it, I blew it off. The second night I heard it, I almost went down. When it happened for the third night in a row, I had to go down there to check on him."

_The basement of the dorms was darkened for the most part except for one lone light at the end of the hallway. The sounds of hard rock and metal were seeping under the door. No one would have thought there was any sort of problem until the sounds of Metallica and Guns N Roses were punctuated by the occasional crash and the most colorful swearing anyone has ever heard._

_James Rhodes made his way cautiously down the dark hallway to where his young roommate, Tony Stark, was ferociously working on his Master's project to get it finished in time for contention in the International Robotics Award. Rhodey was just about to knock on the door when he heard another crash followed by a very loud 'SHIT!'_

_"Tony! Are you alright?" Rhodey asked as he pushed the door open without knocking._

_"I would be if this goddamned piece of shit would go together how I want it to!" Tony roared as he threw the screwdriver across the room._

_Rhodey eyeballed the emerging structure that was rising from the base on the floor. It looked nothing like the schematics that Tony had spent hours tweaking until he got them right. He recognized parts of the robot on the table but he imagined that Tony would have been further along by now. "That doesn't look like anything you actually planned out. Are you winging this now?" he said with a small laugh as he picked up a cache of tubes._

_Tony turned and gave Rhodey a very ominous glare before he picked up a remote control from the table. He flipped the on switch and a small red glow came from a darkened back corner of the room. Tony flipped a few more controls to turn whatever was over there and then it started moving forward._

_"Do me a favor and beat the ever-loving shit out of the dissenter here that brought bad vibes into the room." Tony said darkly as he flipped one more switch on the remote and a robotic arm on wheels with a soldering iron in its grips came at full speed at Rhodey. _

_Rhodey stopped breathing as a rather menacing looking structure was moving towards him with a white hot tool pointing forward. He started to back up for the door but had a sick feeling that this thing would chase._

_"Think it's so funny now?" Tony chimed in as he still had his hands on the remote._

_"Maybe not. Look, I am sorry. Call off your dog here." Rhodey exclaimed as the bot came within three feet of him._

_Tony flipped another few switches and the robot returned to its cozy little corner. "At least Butterfingers there didn't drop the damn thing this time. I spent two months adjusting the grip on those clamps."_

_"Butterfingers?"_

_"Yeah…that's what I call that one." Tony stated as plainly as if someone just asked him if he wanted a cheeseburger. "When I first activated him, he dropped everything he picked up. He broke three of my gauges so he has been in time-out in the corner until he learns to behave." Tony half yelled at the back corner._

_Rhodey swore he saw the robot bow its head in shame but then thought again. He instantly took back the flippant remark he had made before. That piece of machinery was amazing and a little too life-like. Robots don't have feelings, do they? "So this mess here is number two? What is this one designed for?"_

_"This will be number two if I can ever get the swivel joint on correctly," Tony growled as he picked up a pair of pliers and tried to adjust the bolt again to get it centered. "He's the mirror to Butterfingers there. This one is supposed to position and remove whatever Butterfingers is working on, if it reads my programming correctly. I have been putting swivel joints onto things since I was four. This should not be so damn difficult." He pulled towards him and the bolt slipped off and went flying, hitting Tony just below his right eye._

_"SHIT!" he screamed out as he dropped the pliers and placed his hand up to his eye as he fell back into a chair._

_Rhodey went over and knelt in front of Tony and gently moved his hand away to see how badly he was injured. Once his hand was out of the way, Rhodey saw the beginnings of a nice bruise forming but not much else except for some deep shadows under Tony's eyes. A severe lack of sleep explained why there was so much swearing going on down here. "Have you slept at all in three days?"_

_"I have too much to do to spare time for sleep." Tony said as he pulled away and went back to his robot._

_"And if you don't sleep, you are going to botch things up even more." Rhodey told him flatly, trying to get to the part of his brain that actually registered logic. "How many hours have you put into these two?"_

_"Probably about 20,000." Tony exaggerated._

_"Do you want to spend another 20,000 to rebuild something you may blow up in this state before the competition in April?"_

_"Not exactly," Tony said quietly._

_"Then power down for now, come with me, go to bed, get some real food in you and then attack this again." Rhodey told him as he pulled him up out of the chair._

_Tony nodded and went to his computer to shut down everything and then followed Rhodey back up to their dorm room._

_About thirty hours later after at least twelve hours of solid sleep and a massive food raid at the cafeteria, Tony was back down in his work room with considerably less swearing and more progress._

_April came along faster than anyone expected and on Tony's seventeenth birthday, he was standing at the finals for the __International Robotics Award. Tony had made it easily through the competitions at M.I.T, then all of Massachusetts, then the east coast, and finally the U.S. competition. Over the course of the rounds, robot two had earned a new nickname – Dummy. The bot had visual sensors that were supposed to track movement and answer the other one but it ended up getting everything reversed. Tony managed to catch that and would reverse his hand gestures when he demonstrated it._

_The International competition was being held in Madison Square Garden in New York and that made Tony very happy. His parents would easily be able to see him take the title. What worried him though were the sounds of the other competitors. His biggest threat was a twenty year old Russian. Hell of a way to end the Cold War._

_Rhodey rode with Tony as his robots were shipped back to New York for the last round. He could tell that Tony was nervous for this round because in the entire five hour trip to New York, Tony never said a word. Before the previous rounds, Tony was bouncing off the walls with nervous energy but this one was different. Maybe it was the international competition? Maybe it was the fact that his father was going to be in the audience?_

_After supervising the set-up of his robots, Tony went out to the main arena to scope the crowd. He knew Rhodey was there, like he had been for every other round, and he was sitting with his parents. He pulled on his M.I.T sweatshirt and stepped out to scan the mass of people. Just as he stepped away from the stage, someone stopped him._

_"So you're the one I have to crush with this?" a thick Russian accent spat._

_"The only one who is going to be crushed is you." Tony shot back. "Haven't you figured out by now that when it is the United States versus Russia, we trump you every time?"_

_"We'll see about that boy." The Russian spat. "You have a name so I know who to laugh at when you fail."_

_"Stark. Anthony Stark."_

_The Russian swallowed hard when he heard Tony's name. "__Boris Chertok." He stated before walking away without another acknowledgement._

_As the Russian left, Tony spotted Rhodey in the front row right next to his parents. He ran over and got a hug from each of them._

_"This is impressive, Tony. You should be proud of all of this." Howard Stark said with a smile._

_"I am…I busted my ass to get this far."_

_"When you win this thing…note my confidence," Howard started as he put an arm around his son's shoulder. "The trophy is going right in the lobby of Stark Industries. Everyone is going to know how great you are."_

_"I haven't won it yet, Dad." Tony stated. "The German and the Russian are tough to beat."_

_"My statement isn't changing. You will win this because you want to. If desire is there, nothing can stop it. The strength of will always triumphs over any adversity." Howard said as he hugged his son once more and sent him off to battle._

_The competition began going through each country being represented alphabetically, leaving the United States and Russia to be the last two to be shown. Tony was trying not to fidget as he watched everyone else go before him. He was analyzing each one and calculating his odds as they went. Then the Russian came up with his little battle bot. He started the demo and the robot never moved. Tony had to force himself not to jump for joy when the Russian announced that he had an irreparable malfunction._

_"For our final representative, for the United States from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Master's Candidate Anthony Stark."_

_Tony took a deep breath as he switched Dummy and Butterfingers on via the remote and then set it down. He had worked them so they followed hand gestures. He went though the carefully crafted routine of constructing a remote control car from its components. In record time and backwards for Dummy, the car was built to the roaring sound of applause. Tony looked up at the judges' faces and he knew he had claimed the trophy._

"His Dad did put that trophy right in the center of the lobby in New York. Did Tony ever move it?"

"Nope. It is still one of the centerpieces under a glass case. I believe there are certain higher executives which despise it." Pepper said with a laugh.

"I didn't think he would move that one even though he was quite embarrassed with all the attention he initially got." Rhodey stated. "His parents did give him one hell of a birthday party that night though. I think they rented out the entire Rainbow Room to celebrate."

Then there was the sound of movement coming from upstairs and Rhodey and Pepper quickly shoved the notebook paper back in the box and shoved the box under the couch again just in case Tony was coming down.

"A second copy of the trophy is also in the damn case at M.I.T." Tony's voice called down from his bedroom.

Pepper froze as she waited for Tony to come down and only relaxed when Jarvis confirmed that he had fallen back to sleep. "He heard everything?" she squeaked out.

Rhodey glanced up the stairs. "If he did, I hope you can be very convincing that he was dreaming or else you may not be able to wait until he gets you your drink."


	10. Chapter 10

It was late in the evening and already dark when Pepper returned to the mansion after dealing with any leftovers at Stark Industries that were not tackled when Tony was there during the day. She walked into the darkened mansion and asked Jarvis to turn up the lights. It was then, she saw Tony sitting on the couch with the box next to him, looking almost furious.

Tony looked up when Pepper came in. His eyes burned with anger and pain all in one. He felt betrayed and that betrayal bore through his heart like a white hot poker. "Care to explain why this box was hiding under the couch rather than where I had put it?"

Pepper froze under Tony's cold glare. She had never been the target of this before and she didn't know how to react to it. "I saw it in the closet and I was curious about it."

"You were curious about it?" Tony snapped. "I have very little in my life that was ever private…stuff that was only mine. Most of what was in this box meant a great deal to me and I didn't want it out for the world to know about. For the most part, this is all I have left of my parents…of what little childhood I actually had. I trust you with nearly every aspect of my life so why the hell did you go behind my back with this? Why didn't you just ask me?"

Pepper was having trouble breathing. She had never seen Tony so upset. "I was afraid you wouldn't tell me." She said quietly.

"When is there something I keep from you if you ask me?" Tony said angrily as his voice thickened with emotion and his eyes went glassy. "Most of it I would have told you if you had TRUSTED me like I did trust you."

Even the words hurt to say and the pain was written all over Tony's face. Taking that box without asking him almost felt like he was being violated in some way. Tony couldn't even find most of the words to express how he felt right now. Tears stung his eyes and he would be damned if he broke himself right in front of Pepper now since she was the cause of it.

"I can't be here right now." He said as he grabbed his jacket and his car keys. He stopped once more before going to the door, looking at Pepper with glassy eyes, almost wanting to say something but didn't. Instead, Tony turned and left without a word, slamming the door behind him.

As the door slammed and echoed through the house, Pepper fell to her knees in the middle of the floor with the realization of how much she had hurt him. It felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest it was so hard to breathe. Rhodey had been right. She should have never snooped in the box. If she hadn't gone in there, despite the best intentions, she would have never have hurt Tony so badly that he felt that he couldn't be in the same room with her. With love always comes pain but how badly will it hurt if the love is shared but not proclaimed?

Pepper pulled herself off the floor and turned back towards the couch where the box was. The lid was partially off and a video tape was sitting on the table marked as 'Hawaiian Vacation – 1986'. Her conscience was telling her to put the video in the box and tape it back up but another side was saying watch the video and copy it to a DVD to preserve it for him, even though he would still be mad.

Pepper sniffed and wiped at her eyes as she put the video into the VCR. "Jarvis, can you please convert this to a DVD?" she asked.

"You should not be watching this, Ms. Potts." Jarvis reminded her.

"I know Jarvis. I know I shouldn't be but this is addictive. Consider this my last unless Tony tells me I can see more." Pepper said. "Jarvis, please start the video."

There was a delay in response, Jarvis' version of showing his displeasure with the situation but being forced to comply.

The video opened with a shot of Maria and Howard Stark in a hotel lobby but Tony wasn't anywhere to be seen. Howard was checking in when the sound came in…

_Upon arrival at the hotel and eager to start the vacation, Tony started rummaging through the bags while his parents were checking in to the hotel room. It took a little bit but he found what he was looking for – the video camera. He adjusted the view finder and pointed it in the direction of his parents._

"_Live from the beautiful state of Hawaii from the island of Maui, we bring you the Stark family vacation. See here, we have the head of the family, the very powerful Howard Stark and his wife Maria," Tony said, trying to narrate like Robin Leach on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Then he turned the camera on himself. "And of course their handsome and genius son, Tony, who is right now serving as your narrator and director." Tony flashed a smile and then turned it back to his parents as his father was showing signs of annoyance. "Hey! Mom! Dad! Smile, you're on candid camera!" he called out to him._

"_Tony, knock it off." Howard said sternly as he turned around briefly and then back to the desk clerk._

"_See the typical American father getting annoyed on vacation when a reservation isn't handled right…" Tony said in narration again._

"_Tony," Maria said warningly. "Didn't your father just tell you to turn it off?"_

"_But Mom…you said you wanted movies of the vacation and the vacation includes Dad getting mad at the desk clerk. This will be really funny later, you'll see."_

"_Anthony Edward Stark…" Maria started with a sure threat._

"_Turning it off now," Tony said before his mother finished her statement._

The next time the camera turned on, they were at a beach. Tony was in the water while his parents were taking in the sun.

_Howard dug the camera out and turned it on, using his wife as his first subject._

"_Hey beautiful." He said as he focused in on Maria._

"_Howard, what are you doing?"_

"_Filming the most beautiful woman out on the sands here."_

"_How about spending some of that film on the boy out in the water there?" Maria said as she pointed to Tony snorkeling. "How about joining the boy out there as well? You have too much energy today."_

_The camera dipped down a bit as Howard stole a kiss from his wife and then passed the camera to her._

"_Hey Dad! Is that camera waterproof?" Tony called out from the water._

"_No, why?" Howard called back._

"_Too bad because there are some awesome fish down here that you just gotta see!"_

"_Howard, your son is calling you to join him." Maria hinted as she pointed the camera at Howard and then followed him down to the edge of the beach as he swam out to meet up with Tony._

_Behind the camera, Maria was smiling and laughing as she watched her men scavenge the ocean floor with masks and snorkels, putting aside every day life and enjoying themselves._

The picture went dark and then came back on a bus ride.

"_Here we are on the ride up to the top of Haleakala, the extinct volcano on one half of the island of Maui," Howard narrated. "It is said that it is actually cold at the top but it has the most brilliant sunrises." He then panned to Maria. "But no sunrise compares to this beauty."_

"_Howard, how do I put up with you?" Maria sighed with a tired voice. It was only three in the morning._

"_You are madly in love with me," Howard answered before panning to a sleeping Tony in the next seat. "Vacation already killed the kid there."_

"_Kid is not dead but kid wishes the sun came up later," Tony mumbled before shifting in the seat and turning his back to his father._

_At the top of the mountain, Howard filmed his family watching the sunrise while wearing sweatshirts and jackets in Hawaii. Then, all three took the bike ride down to the base of the mountain where they met another bus to take the Road to Hana – a three hour, fifty-two mile trip with fifty-six bridges and 617curves, some single lane. Only part of the tour got on camera – Tony walking along a black sand beach with his mother._

The picture went dark again and then came back on a ranch.

"_Today comes the great horse adventure," Tony narrated into the camera before turning it on his parents who were both on horseback like he was. "The question remains will city boy Howard Stark not embarrass himself by falling off his valiant steed that is named Goof Ball while his wife Maria shows him and her ever so talented son up completely."_

"_Does everything have to be this dramatic, Tony?" his father asked as he pulled on the reins to turn the horse._

"_Yes. It makes for a better flick. You don't want people falling asleep when you show these to people, right?" Tony said before he passed the camera off to one of the ranch hands to film their departure._

_Upon their return, the ranch hand filmed them again. Maria came in as elegantly as she left while Tony and Howard were covered in sand from when they both tripped getting off the horse for a break._

The picture cut again and then came back in an airport.

"_Welcome to Maui's great airport," Tony said some what sarcastically as he turned the camera on himself while they waited for their flight. "Why we didn't tell the private jet to come get us and make the hop to Oahu, I don't know. But here we are waiting for the plane to take us to vacation phase two." Tony then turned the camera on his mother who was reading a magazine. "Hey Mom. What do you think the best part of the vacation was so far?"_

"_Watching you and your father hit the sand getting off your horses. It was wildly funny once I knew you were alright."_

_Then Tony turned the camera on his dad. "Dad, same question."_

"_Something I am not going to say on camera." Howard said with a perfectly straight face without even looking up from his newspaper as a gasp from his mother could be heard off camera before she took a swat at Howard._

_Tony turned the camera back on himself. "I don't want to know." He said before turning the camera off._

The next shot was back on the beach again, this time Waikiki.

_Howard had a good perch from the beach as he pointed the camera towards the water where Tony was attempting to surf._

"_Maria, I had better film this because if Tony actually gets up on that board for more than a few seconds, it may never happen again."_

"_That's not nice Howard. How about encouraging him?" Maria commented as she watched Tony hit the water again._

"_I am encouraging him. He can show the video and brag about the one and only time he surfed Waikiki."_

"_Well, you had better start filming Howard because he's about to catch a wave." Maria pointed out as Tony started to paddle and actually caught a wave that he could stand up on._

_Tony was up and actually surfing for a grand total of two minutes before he wiped out. He popped up out of the water with a big smile on his face. "Did you see it?" he cried out excitedly. "I surfed Waikiki. I am so going to show this off in Malibu."_

The shot then came back on a luau.

_Howard had wrestled the camera away from Tony for the luau with much effort. He filmed the fire dancers and the raising of the pig and Maria and Tony having a great time. Tony reclaimed the camera back at the hotel room._

_Tony panned around the hotel room, showing his mother resting on the bed and a closed bathroom door before turning it on himself. "Dad did not listen to the warning about eating too much of that coconut jell-o and now he's paying the price for it."_

"_Tony, stop it." Maria warned._

"_This part of the vacation Mom," Tony protested._

"_Anthony…"_

"_I got it…" and the camera went black._

The next shot was Howard and Tony on a golf course.

"_Maria? Are you getting this? No one can ever say I never taught the boy anything about business." Howard said as he was trying to teach Tony to tee off._

"_What does golf have to do with business?" Maria asked._

"_Best place to make business deals because people aren't totally paying attention unless you are beating them. Then, make the deal over drinks later." Howard said with a laugh._

"_Dad? What do you do when the ball goes for a swim?" Tony asked._

"_What?"_

"_The ball…it went in the water." Tony said again as he pointed at the ocean._

"_Do over." Howard answered._

The picture went black for one more time and then reopened on Pearl Harbor.

_The camera date read July 4, 1986 as Howard started filming. There were far fewer jokes on this one. Tony was positively entranced by all the history in the room as Howard filmed it before they took the ferry out to the U.S.S. Arizona._

_As the boarded the boat, Howard passed the camera off to Maria and went up to Tony who was riding at the front._

"_Tony, remember one thing about this place. This isn't just some wreck…this is a gravesite for hundreds of American sailors and soldiers who died in battle. Show them the respect that they deserve." Howard told his son as they docked._

"_I understand, Dad. I do understand." Tony said seriously as he walked beside his parents to the viewing point over the Arizona._

_As Howard looked down at the battleship below, he was visibly moved by it. His work on the Manhattan Project had helped to end the war forty years earlier but seeing this still reminded him what he did._

The video faded out once more and Pepper had sat and watched silently throughout the whole thing, except for laughing at Tony at thirteen. She got to see the people that she had been hearing so much about and how much they loved Tony for herself and it made her love for Tony even stronger. It also cut her even deeper to know how much she had hurt him for going behind his back. She just didn't want to apologize to him – she needed to apologize to him and as fast as possible.

Pepper pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial to call Tony. It rang once and then went to voice mail. She tried again and it went directly to voice mail for the second time. She had to find him and then called the only other person who may be able to find Tony – James Rhodes.

When Rhodey picked up the phone, he could barely get out 'hello' before Pepper started speaking frantically.

"Please tell me you know where Tony is," she rattled out quickly. "He's not answering his phone and I don't know where he went when he left here. He was very upset."

"I know where he is and why he isn't answering his phone," Rhodey answered back in a far calmer tone than that which Pepper had used. "He's lying on my couch at the moment sound asleep and trying to get rid of a splitting headache that he has." He continued as he left the living room and headed into the bedroom as to not upset Tony any further than he already was. "Do you realize that it has taken me the last two hours to calm him down and get him to talk to me about what happened? He showed up on my doorstep looking worse than when I found him when Obadiah ripped the arc reactor out of his chest and left him to die. I almost thought that you had left him or died and then when he finally started talking to me, I found out it was worse. You are like the one person he trusts completely without hesitation and as far as he was concerned you went behind his back. I know you meant it to be harmless and that was why I helped and I tried to explain that to him but to Tony, you broke what trust he had."

"Can you please tell me what happened? I have to apologize to him." Pepper pleaded.

Rhodey sighed and he shut the bedroom door. "When he showed up here, he looked worse than he did at his parents' funeral. He was shaking on my doorstep for crying out loud. I got him in and sat him down and refused him when he asked for a drink. I asked him what happened and he nearly broke down right in front of me. I couldn't understand him at first. When he calmed down enough, I got that he found out that you found the box. Then when I got quiet, he figured that I had helped you. He then got pissed at me and nearly walked out. I had to stop him and force him to go back to the couch and listen for the sake of our friendship and for all the shit he had put me through he owed me. So he obliged me while he sulked. I told him that you just wanted to get to know him better and what I told you were humorous stories and nothing that he swore me to secrecy over. Tony seemed to be listening until I heard his voice crack again when he asked why you had to go behind his back instead of asking him directly. I told him you did that because you knew he would not give up that info willingly. After that, he was a bit calmer but still miserable. He told me he had a headache so I gave him a few Advil and a bottle of water to help with the dehydration that caused the headache and then he laid down and fell asleep."

"Can I talk to him? I have to apologize and make this right." Pepper begged.

"Before he fell asleep he said he was not even going to consider an apology over the phone." Rhodey stated. "He added that when he screws up this badly, he apologizes in person and that is what he wants."

"Is he coming home tonight?"

"I'm not going to wake him up to send him home," Rhodey insisted. "If he wants to, he'll go home when he's ready to in the morning. Until then, I would recommend you think about what you are going to say to him."

Pepper sighed as her breath caught in her throat. "For what it's worth, thank you."

"You're welcome." Rhodey replied before hanging up.

The next morning, Tony slipped quietly into his house by driving directly into the garage, setting his keys on his desk and tossing his jacket over a nearby chair.

"Welcome home, sir." Jarvis stated as he brought up the windows.

"Thanks Jarvis," Tony said with lingering sadness in his voice. He was about to walk upstairs to take a shower and get a cup of coffee when he saw Pepper asleep on his couch. He didn't say anything, he just kept walking.

Pepper awoke when she heard the Audi pull in and saw Tony not even acknowledging her. She scrambled off the couch and got directly in his path so he couldn't go further upstairs.

"Tony, stop please. Let me explain." She pleads with him.

Tony turns sideways and tries to go past her but she stops him again.

"I am so sorry for going behind your back on this but I just wanted to get to know you better. You are someone I care about very much." Pepper stated as her eyes welled up again.

"Why the hell didn't you just ask me?" Tony mumbled under his breath as he pushed her aside once more.

Pepper grabbed his hand and forced him to stop again. "Tony. I am sorry. Believe me when I say the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you and lose your trust in me." She pleaded with him. "What do I have to do to make this up to you?"

Tony turned around and looked at Pepper with glassy, bloodshot eyes. "Prove it." He stated flatly before continuing upstairs to the shower he wanted.

After getting out of the shower and getting his daily dose of caffeine and something to eat, Tony was in a slightly better mood. It was enough improved that he actually went searching for Pepper. He found her working diligently as always in her office except that her eyes were red.

"I told you that you are all that I have," he said quietly, forcing Pepper to look up. "You are also one of the only people I would trust with my life completely but what you did really hurt. Why didn't you just ask me? Even with the things you did ask me, I had to force you to bring it up to me – the catapult, my lion, the dancing. You know very well I don't like people going behind my back on things. You should know that most of all."

Pepper didn't know what to say. Tony was right and she could not dispute it. "I can only apologize infinitely for what I did especially since it seems what I did was worse than what Obadiah did to you. The only difference is that I wasn't trying to hurt you…in fact it was quite the opposite. I can only hope that one day you can forgive me for this and trust me again."

"What you did was not worse than Obadiah," Tony said with a hint of reassurance in his voice. "And I care about you too much not to forgive you and put this behind us on one condition."

"What condition?" Pepper asked, willing to do just about anything.

"Make me a promise," Tony started as he sat down in the chair in front of her so he was no longer looming over her. "Promise me that if you want to know anything about me or what is in that box, please ask me. Can you do that for me?"

Pepper nodded. "I promise….I promise…" she said as she smiled at him.

The weight of the world seemed to come off of Tony's shoulders as he relaxed and smiled. "Now…just one more thing," he said with a small smirk.

"Yes Tony?"

"If you really want to make me feel better, you can come join me in the hot tub. I mean Rhodey's couch is fine and all but it left an ache in my back which the shower didn't get rid of. You can maybe work it out for me with the massage oil?"

Pepper just laughed. "When?"

Tony nearly swallowed his tongue that she did not say no. "If you're serious…right now." He said, getting a little excited.

"Fine, you just have to keep at least your underwear on." Pepper replied.

"What fun is that if I can't make you blush?" Tony stated as he left her office and started up the stairs. "Meet you upstairs. Hopefully you can stop me before I get completely undressed."


	11. Chapter 11

The box sat in the living room largely untouched since Tony found out that Pepper had gone into it. It was a symbol of the trust Tony still had in Pepper since he left out in plain sight.

By the time Saturday night came around, Pepper decided that it was time to put the box away. Anything she wanted to know would come from Tony at his request. While Tony was working in the garage on the hot rod, Pepper started to try to gather the box up to store it in one of the closets.

As she assessed the box, Pepper didn't realize how beat up the box really had been. It was held together with more duct tape than she had originally thought. Pepper mused that maybe she should suggest that Tony put all his treasured possessions in a sturdier container so they last longer but that would need to be brought up gently.

Pepper knelt down to pick up the box and when she lifted it, she felt the bottom starting to give way. She quickly set it back down with a thud but a few pictures and newspaper clippings had slipped out.

Tony was emerging from the garage as Pepper was bending down to pick up what fell out.

"I wasn't snooping again. I swear it. I was just going to put it away in your closet." Pepper said quickly as Tony knelt down to help her.

"Did I say anything?" Tony asked calmly as he helped her pick up a few of the newspaper clippings. He picked up one large clipping and froze when he did so, the paper falling from his hand as his face went into the emotionless mask that he used when he was shutting down on someone.

Pepper noticed this slight but quick change in Tony's demeanor and then saw what he had dropped…his parents' obituary. She set the pictures she had in her hand on the top of the box and gently grasped Tony's.

Tony didn't respond when Pepper took his hand. He was fighting to not let those painful memories attached to that one piece of paper come out unwillingly. He wanted to hide so Pepper would not see this.

Pepper saw Tony fighting with himself and losing. "Tony?" she said gently, hoping her voice would break through the walls he was building.

Tony did look at her when he heard his name but then turned away as he wanted to run away.

"Tony, please talk to me," Pepper said gently as she did not release his hand. "Can you tell me about it?" She fully expected him to say no to this one but she had to try.

Tony hesitated in answering. He did not want to talk about this memory. It was painful enough living it the first time, never mind reliving it. But then the tone of her voice hit him and he looked down at his hand in hers. She wasn't forcing him. She was being gentle.

Tony stood up and pulled Pepper up with him as he looked into her eyes, letting some of the pain show through. "Not here…" he said as he took her hand and started upstairs. He didn't say another word as he took Pepper towards his bedroom.

"Tony, why are you taking me to your room?" Pepper asked as she hesitated a bit when she saw where he was going.

"Please?" Tony asks softly as his eyes plead with her.

Pepper acquiesced to his wish and followed despite her unease.

Once they were in Tony's bedroom, Jarvis had the lights dimmed a bit as Tony pulled the blankets down on the bed, making Pepper very confused and very worried. He then stripped off his shirt and threw it into the hamper in his bathroom before pulling out an old M.I.T. t-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama bottoms. As he went into the bathroom to change, without shutting the door, Pepper had to ask.

"Tony, can you explain this?" she asked as gently as possible.

Tony came out of the bathroom and flopped down on his bed. He reached underneath and pulled out the stuffed lion and pulled his blankets up before speaking. "I can't get through this memory unless I am comfortable," he admits softly and with a hint of embarrassment. "I need to almost feel close to them or I can't say it." He added as he held up the lion. "I want you to join me though. This memory is painful and if you are here with me, it may not hurt as much."

Pepper felt for Tony as she looked down at him lying in bed with the lion. Then she looked down at the suit she was wearing. "There may be a small problem with that."

"Get comfortable." Tony stated. "Strip down to something lacy if that floats your boat or if not, grab one of my shirts to relax in. I just need you next to me."

Pepper laughed a little at the little lacy comment before she went to Tony's dresser and pulled out one of his t-shirts that she deemed long enough to keep her decent.

Tony smiled with a little relief when Pepper went into his bathroom to change, shutting the door unfortunately. When she came out in his Black Sabbath shirt that barely came past her rear, if the rest of his brain had been working, he would have been all over her because that was one of the hottest things he had ever seen. Instead, he pulled back the blanket and patted the mattress as an invitation for her to join him with no funny business.

Pepper slipped under the blanket but stayed on her side since she could easily tell how much this could be tempting to Tony. "I didn't bring the scrap up."

"I don't need it," Tony said sadly as he rolled on his side to face her. "I remember it well enough without it." He sighed as he played with the lion a bit as he seemed to be searching for a way to explain this. "All the memories you could have asked me, you have to start with this one." He mumbled under his breath.

Tony took a deep breath and started speaking. "I remember it was raining on the night it happened. My parents had gone out to some function…ball, benefit, award, fundraiser…I'm not exactly sure which but I remember my dad was in his tux and my mom was in an evening gown. They told our butler to make sure I had dinner and didn't stay up too late watching TV and then said they loved me and would see me in the morning. If I had only known that would be the last time I would talk to them…"

_The rain was still beating down loudly on the windows and roof of the Stark Mansion when the phone rang in the dark._

_The Stark family butler, Edwin, flipped on the kitchen lights after the second ring and answered the phone. "Stark residence."_

_"I need to speak with Mr. Stark please."_

_"I am afraid he is not here at the moment. May I…"_

_"Anthony Stark." The voice interrupted._

_"May I inquire as to who is calling?"_

_"LAPD."_

_Edwin felt his stomach come into his throat as he excused himself to go get Tony. The butler faithfully climbed the stairs to the boy's bedroom and eased the door open._

_Tony was sound asleep and buried under his blankets. Edwin could see that his young master had the old stuffed lion in a death grip as he slept and hated to wake him but it was unavoidable. _

_"Sir, you need to wake up. There is a phone call for you." Edwin said gently as he touched Tony's shoulder._

_Tony's eyes cracked open and squinted from the light coming in from the hall as he pushed himself up in bed. "Who calls at this time, Edwin?" he asked as he looked at his clock and it read 1:17AM._

_"The police are on the phone for you." Edwin said as he handed the cordless phone to Tony._

_"Hello?"_

_"Anthony Stark?"_

_"Yes?" Tony said hesitantly._

_"I am calling to inform you that your parents, Howard and Maria Stark have been involved in an accident with a drunk driver."_

_"Are they alright?" Tony interrupted frantically._

_"I'm sorry to have to tell you this but your parents are dead."_

_Tony heard the words and froze. This just couldn't be real. This was a nightmare. This wasn't happening._

_He could hear the officer saying something about coming to the hospital to identify the bodies but the phone fell from his hand as he got up from the bed in shock._

_Edwin picked up the phone as the officer repeated what he had just said when he did not get a response. "We'll be there as soon as we can." Edwin told the officer before hanging up and turning to his young charge._

_Tony was standing in the middle of his bedroom with his arms wrapped around himself, shaking. He just could not believe this. He was in shock._

_Edwin pulled the seventeen year old into a hug and Tony lost it. As he was pulled into the embrace, Tony burst hysterical sobs. He was choking on his own tears as the old butler tried to impossibly soothe him._

_It was nearly half past three when Tony and Edwin arrived at Cedar-Sinai Hospital. Mary, Howard's secretary and Obadiah Stane had already seen the bodies and were waiting with a lawyer when Tony pulled up. Right as he entered the lobby, two uniformed police confronted him and demanded to know who he was. Tony, clearly nervous about being bombarded like he was and barely holding it together, fished his wallet out of his pocket and showed them his Driver's License._

_The officer blanched when he realized the son of Howard and Maria stark was only seventeen. He sighed and took Tony back to the morgue with Edwin following close behind._

_The sterile white walls and lack of noise made Tony even more ill at ease than he already was. He shoved his hands in his pockets so no one could see them shaking as the door opened to two bodies covered in sheets laid out on two tables._

_The doctor asked Tony to come forward as he peeled back the sheets to reveal his parents' lifeless faces. Their skin had already started to gray after the blood had been washed off and luckily their eyes were closed. "Can you identify these people?"_

_Tony's stomach rose into his throat when he saw the bodies and he threw up what little he had eaten that day into a nearby garbage can, only barely hearing what the doctor had said. When his brain registered it, Tony nodded as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "They're my parents." he rasped out as the officer quickly pulled the boy out of there._

_Tony was ushered into an office where Edwin, Obadiah and Mary were waiting with another LAPD officer. Tony took a seat on the couch in the back of the room, visibly shaken and trying not to start crying again._

_Obadiah stood up when Tony came in a briefly put a hand on his shoulder. "They loved you very much and they will be missed," He said emotionlessly. Tony looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and pulled away from him._

_"Are there any plans for arrangements?" _

_"I'll do it." Tony quickly answered, avoiding Obadiah trying to take it over._

_The hospital signed the release to allow the funeral home to take over as Tony stood up to leave. Before he left, Mary stood and gave Tony a hug._

_"If you need anything or if you want me to do something for you, don't hesitate to call me." She said sweetly as she held him._

_"Thanks," Tony whispered before he pulled away to leave with Edwin._

_The first service was the one in New York. Tony had taken the jet from California to New York the night before with Edwin to accompany him. He chose to stay on Long Island rather than the city to try to avoid most of the press that would surely accompany the memorial for his parents._

_It fell to Edwin to keep his young master on time – a task easier said than done. Tony did not wake up easy since he was still on California time. Having to wake up at seven on the West Coast was one thing – in New York it was three hours earlier. Once he was moving, things went pretty quickly until he tried to tie his tie._

_Tony had been able to tie his own tie since he was eleven but today he just couldn't get the knot right and was quickly becoming frustrated until his faithful butler saved him from ruin._

_Once his tie was in a perfect Windsor knot, Tony reached pulled his gloves on and his scarf since New York was still damn cold this time of year. When he tried to pull on his long, black wool coat, Tony hit another snag. He pulled it on and the sleeves were too short. He nearly had a panic attack as he called for Edwin._

_"Don't worry, sir," Edwin said gently as he came in with another black wool coat in his hand. "I have a solution." He said as he helped Tony into the coat, which fit a thousand times better._

_Tony looked at the coat and tears filled his eyes as he looked at his butler. "This was Dad's. I can't wear this." He whispered._

_"I am sure your father would have given it to you himself when he saw you outgrew yours." Edwin stated. "He would not want you to freeze and he would want you to feel close to him."_

_Tony understood what Edwin was trying to tell him and appreciated the coat more as the limo picked them up to take them to the memorial service in the city._

_When the limo pulled up to the Campbell Funeral Home, Tony was shocked at how many people were actually there. Just the sight of all the press and dignitaries and business people made him fidgety. He would need to put on a brave face and he knew very well that he could not. His bodyguards stepped by the limo door as he stepped out and walked inside, purposely trying to avoid the cameras that were plaguing him since the accident. He walked down to the front and sat in the chair that was reserved for him, alone and tried to make himself as invisible as possible._

_As the memorial started with words of remembrance and a video tribute, Tony could not take his eyes away from the two caskets in front of him. He kept looking at the lifeless bodies of his parents in front of him, absently acknowledging condolences he was getting but not paying attention to. When the video ended with a montage of Tony and his parents to the song 'The Last Song' by Elton John, Tony had silent tears rolling down his cheeks that he couldn't stop._

_When things started to wind down, Tony made a quick and mostly unnoticed exit to the limo which promptly took him back to Long Island. He had already gotten the tie off by the time the limo pulled into the driveway and he was heading into the house._

_"I'm going to take a nap for a little while," Tony told Edwin tiredly as he climbed the stairs to his bedroom._

_Edwin watched Tony go up the stairs and hoped that he woke up before Obadiah got there with the reception he wanted to do for all those who came._

_Tony pulled off his jacket and tie and flung it over his chair as he kicked off his shoes. He unbuttoned his dress shirt a little bit and stretched out on his bed, willing himself to fall asleep and not wake up until all of this was done. As he tried to doze off, he thought he heard Obadiah's voice coming from downstairs. He wanted to get a better hear of what was going on but opted against it in case Obadiah came looking for him._

_"Where is he?" Obadiah snapped as he came into the house and was stopped by Edwin._

_"He's exhausted. He's asleep and I suggest that you not disturb him." Edwin countered somewhat boldly and protectively._

_"He needs to be down here. There are a lot of people coming here soon and he needs to be there."_

_"Forgive me for saying so, Mr. Stane, but the only thing he needs right now is to be left alone," Edwin stated firmly. "That poor boy has barely slept or eaten since it happened. He's back and forth between California and New York so many times in two days that his body doesn't know what time zone its in. Now, in accordance with his parents' wishes, the one thing I am concerned with right now is Tony. I highly doubt Mr. Stark would have wanted you forcing his son to do anything right now."_

_"You had better watch your tone there. Do you know where your salary comes from?" Obadiah countered._

_"Very much so…from the boy asleep upstairs." Edwin countered. "I assure you I will wake him at some time but allow him to come down on his own. He at least deserves that."_

_Obadiah reluctantly agreed and left Edwin alone for the time being._

_A few hours later, Tony awoke from his nap feeling significantly better than he had before he went to sleep. He peeked downstairs from his bedroom and saw the whole house filled with people…none of which he knew or invited. He was not pleased about being invaded and was certainly not going down there now. He pulled his M.I.T. sweatshirt over his button down and headed down the back stairs which lead into the kitchen._

_As he got closer, the delicious smells wafting up made Tony's stomach growl loudly. He was starving and what he smelled was too good to resist._

_The housekeeper, Teresa, was working furiously to make sure everyone in the main rooms were fed and happy but stopped everything when she saw Tony coming down the stairs._

_"Have a seat, sweetie. I was wondering if you were going to stay up in your room until every one left." She said as she pulled out a chair by the counter._

_"I would have but my stomach said otherwise." Tony said as he was sniffing by the food. "Can I get some of that?"_

_"Of course, dear. You think I am going to let you go hungry?" Teresa said as she set a plate with baked ziti, sausage and peppers, chicken marsala, bread and salad before Tony._

_Tony smiled when he saw most of his favorite things. He thought that Edwin must have done something about this. Tony smiled as he dug in hungrily._

_Edwin watched from the door frame as Tony devoured what was in front of him._

_"So this is where he has been hiding?" Mary said as she stepped up beside the Stark family butler. "I didn't think he would want to be down there with all those people Mr. Stane invited." Mary watched as Tony finished off the first plate and quickly started on another. "Edwin, didn't you feed him over the last few days?" she joked._

_"He hasn't had much of an appetite and what he did eat had problems staying down since he's been so upset." Edwin whispered. "I figured that if I arrange the menu with some of Tony's favorites for this instead of what Mr. Stane had planned, it would entice him to eat."_

_"Looks like it worked," Mary pointed out as Tony grabbed a few cookies and started nibbling on them under Teresa's warm smile. "You know that if Mr. Stane finds him here, he will force him out there."_

_"That is why I am not letting him find him." Edwin stated._

"That night, we got back on the plane and flew back to California with my parents," Tony said quietly as tears slipped down his cheeks. "The next morning was the funeral and burial and it was bigger than what I had to go through in New York. I found out later that Rhodey was actually there at that one but my bodyguards wouldn't let him near me." Tony sniffed as his breath hitched and his tears came anew. "It sucks to have to bury your parents under a media firestorm." He whispered before burying his head into his lion's mane and letting the tears fall without a fight.

Pepper had tears in her eyes as she listened to Tony tell the story and her heart broke when he broke down. He had allowed himself to completely dissolve in front of her, showing how much he trusted her and Pepper couldn't just let him suffer like that. She inched a little closer to him and gently pulled him into a tight hug until he calmed down, rocking him gently.

After a surprisingly long time, Pepper felt Tony recollect himself as he pulled away from her a bit.

"Thank you," he whispered as he looked at her with reddened eyes.

"You're welcome," Pepper said as she inched back a little.

As she moved only a little bit, Tony grabbed her hand lightly. "Don't go."

"Tony…"

"Please…stay here with me." Tony pleaded.

"Fine," Pepper acquiesced. "I'll stay in one of the guest rooms."

Tony shook his head. "Please stay with me…here."

"Tony, I shouldn't…"

"Pepper, I am not talking sex here." Tony stated as he took both of her hands in his. "It's just that…I was alone when it happened and I don't want to be alone right now."

Pepper hesitated as she looked into Tony's eyes. "I really shouldn't..."

"Pepper, it's a big bed. I promise I will stay on my side over here. You can even put up the Great Wall of pillows between us if that makes you more comfortable but I need you with me here."

Pepper heard the desperation in his voice and saw the pain in his eyes and nodded.

Tony smiled and lay back down as he threw a few pillows in between to make her feel better. "Good night, Pepper." He whispered as he pulled his lion close and rolled over on his side.

"Good night, Tony." Pepper told him as she lay down and asked Jarvis to turn out the lights and lock the house down.

The sun shone brightly the next morning when Pepper awoke. It was early, only eight o'clock, but late for her standards. She turned on her side to see Tony curled up with the lion and snoring softly. He looked so sweet like that. So much so that Pepper moved the pillows that were between them and watched him sleep.

Sensing that someone was watching him, Tony rolled over with a groan and pried his eyes opened. A smile graced his lips when he saw Pepper still there. "You stayed?" he asked sleepily.

Pepper nodded. "Yes, I stayed. How are you doing?"

"Better…" Tony said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Are you about to tell me my schedule for today?"

"It's Sunday. You don't have a schedule today." Pepper laughed.

"Do you want to do something?" Tony asked, almost hopefully.

"Maybe we can put your memories in a box that won't fall apart?" Pepper suggested.

"I'll have to store it with the rest of them then." Tony replied as he got out of bed and threw his robe to Pepper.

"The rest of them?"

"You didn't think there was just one, did you?"


	12. Chapter 12

After finally finishing all her digging, which was significantly easier with Tony's willing help, even in the other boxes Tony had hidden around, Pepper started working on the project she had planned all along for this – a video scrap book for Tony.

She spent most of her free time compiling and sorting through videos, pictures and arranging them accordingly with a little help from Jarvis and Rhodey when necessary. Pepper was making pretty good progress on getting it finished until the car accident on the same stretch of highway that killed his parents sidelined Tony with a few broken ribs. He was in a manner of speaking grounded and then bored so caring for him and dealing with the inevitable police investigation that followed sucked up a great deal of working time but she did manage to finish it. Once it was done, she just needed the right time to give it to him.

Two days after the accident, Pepper arrived at the mansion and was surprised to see Tony already up and sitting on the couch in his pajamas with a bowl of cereal. He was never up this early unless forced or he had nightmares that wouldn't let him sleep.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark." She said pleasantly

"Good morning." Tony said with a smile as he flipped through channels. "And what is with the Mr. Stark? Yesterday it was Tony. You know what I like."

"Sorry, Tony. Force of habit." Pepper replied. "What are you doing up so early?"

He didn't look at her when she asked this question but at the TV. "I had a lot going through my head and I couldn't sleep. The pain in my ribs didn't help much either." He said quietly, not really wanting to go into his nightmares with her. "But since I have been up, I thought of a few things that you could do for me." Tony stated as he handed her a list with a bunch of scribbles on it that were supposed to pass as words.

Pepper took the list as she tried to decipher Tony's handwriting. "Pick up dry cleaning, drop off bank deposit, post office for stamps, and get new plant to put in living room?" she asked as she tried to read off the list.

"Yeah, I am in the mood for some greenage in here." Tony replied matter of factly.

"Is there anything else, sir?" Pepper asked cautiously, not knowing what to expect.

"No, Ms. Potts. And now 'sir'? Make up your mind." Tony countered before finishing his breakfast.

Pepper just smiled and grabbed her keys and left on Tony's strange to-do list, seriously wondering sometimes how his mind worked.

She methodically worked through the list that Tony had left for her and with each task; Pepper wondered what he was doing that required her to be out of the house. Most likely something she would not approve of. It was in between the stamps and choosing a plant that Pepper decided Tony should get the movie when he has done something really special – like finally made up to her and got her the drink he had promised her on the night of the Fireman's ball.

It was early evening when Pepper finally returned from Tony's little scavenger hunt. She had to admit the plant was the most difficult part, finally settling on a hibiscus. She walked into the house to find it strangely silent…no music, no TV, no Tony. What was even more offsetting to her were the darkened windows with a sign on them – '_**No Peeking Potts – Tony**_.'

"Jarvis? Where is Mr. Stark?" Pepper called out as she put down the packages.

"Mr. Stark is in his workroom, Ms. Potts."

"Could you please explain what all of this is about?"

"I am not allowed to, Ms. Potts. Mr. Stark swore me to secrecy under penalty of unplugging and becoming a science experiment for as he put it 'zit faced high school freshmen that don't know a keyboard from car keys.'"

Pepper was getting more confused by the second. "How long has he been working on this?"

"Since you left this morning. He has been very busy." Jarvis replied before pausing. "Mr. Stark requests that you relax and get comfortable. He says he will be up momentarily."

Pepper set her purse down and sat down, trying to relax but that wasn't the easiest thing at the moment when she knew Tony was up to something.

She was right. Tony was up to something. From his garage, he was watching her confusion on his security feed. Once her back was turned, he sent the command for the windows to open silently. On the balcony was a small table set for two with candlelight. He smiled and told Jarvis to turn on the music as he walked up smoothly from his garage in his tuxedo.

"May I have this dance?" he asked suavely as he held out his hand to Pepper.

Pepper turned at the sound of his voice and was shocked but took his hand to help her stand and then placed her other on his shoulder as he led. Jarvis turned the volume of _Glory of Love _to the right level as they danced. As Tony held her close, Pepper heard him softly singing the lyrics to her as they danced and the song he chose fit them very well. She was getting one surprise after another here.

As the song faded, they slowed but Tony did not let go.

"How are you doing this? You could barely move yesterday." Pepper asked as Tony led her out to the balcony and pulled her chair out for her.

"A lot of really strong pain killers and determination." He said with a laugh as he opened the bottle of wine and poured it for her. "Sorry, I didn't have the liquor in the house to make a proper martini. I should have added it to the shopping list." He added as he sat down.

Pepper smiled when she saw the wine and heard the comment about the martini. He got her the drink she asked for.

A waiter came out shortly after with dinner from Pepper's favorite Italian restaurant, not that she knew that at first. "You cooked?" she asked nervously.

"No. I know how to order take out. I just went up a few notches from where I called." Tony said, trying to calm her as they started eating.

As they shared what was one of the best meals Pepper had ever had, she was really getting puzzled about all of this. Why now? Where was all of this coming from?

When they were finished, Pepper got up and started to leave since it was getting late. Taking all of this in at once was almost too much for her. She had only seen the afterwards of Tony Stark romance and never experienced it first hand. It was unnerving.

"No need to rush off so quickly." Tony said as he stopped her. "I have more planned. Dinner and a movie…your choice."

Pepper didn't know how to react to this but what came out didn't sound right. "All of this is really unnecessary. Why are you doing this, Tony?" she asked.

"Because you said I had to make it up to you for leaving you on the roof. I was hoping that this made up for it and went beyond." Tony replied as his smile faded away.

"But why now? What else caused this?"

"Ever stop to think that I may have wanted to. I care about you very much and I wanted to show it. I have wanted to for a while." Tony said sincerely.

"No, I hadn't." Pepper said quietly, blurting it out without letting her brain process everything.

When those words came out of Pepper's mouth, Tony nearly felt his heart stop in his chest. He had thought that his opening up to her about himself would have broken through the walls a bit. He had tried so hard to make this perfect and it blew up in his face. The one woman he could say he truly ever loved didn't feel the same. He couldn't even respond to what she said with how hurt he was. Tony just stepped back away from her and went inside the darkened house and down to the garage where he locked the door behind him.

Pepper felt the tears sting her eyes as she watched Tony walk away from her as everything came crashing down on her. He did love her and he was trying to show it and she had denied her feelings about him for so long that she couldn't take it all in. He trusted her to take his offered heart and she refused it. She slowly walked back into the house and fell on to the couch as a few tears slipped from her eyes.

"I really messed this up, didn't I, Jarvis?"

"If I may say so, yes you did." Jarvis replied. "Mr. Stark had really put his heart into it."

"How upset is he?"

"Very."

"Upset angry or upset sad?" Pepper asked as she began to feel even worse for hurting Tony's feelings.

"Upset sad." Jarvis answered. "I believe a profound apology may be in order."

"I believe you may be right, Jarvis. He's in the garage, correct?" Pepper asked as she wiped her face.

"Correct, Ms. Potts."

That was all Pepper needed to know to go and try to fix things. She needed to give him the video tonight.

Pepper went down the stairs and noticed Tony's back was to the door, taking note of how quickly he shed his jacket, tie and shirt and threw a t-shirt. She typed in her code but the door didn't open. She tried again and was still unsuccessful. It was on the third try that Tony saw her there from his hot rod and allowed the door to open but he still didn't look at her.

Pepper walked in and she could feel the pain coming off of Tony in waves and the occasional sniff she heard caused her to start crying again. "I am so sorry." She started. "No one has ever done anything like that for me before, especially not one of the world's most eligible bachelors and I didn't know how to react."

"Happiness could have been a good route to go." Tony replied dryly as he sniffed again.

"I was happy but I was shocked and it came out badly." Pepper tried to explain.

Tony turned on his stool and didn't even try to hide the fact that he was crying. "Do you get enjoyment out of hurting me because you're getting really good at it?" Tony snapped first but then his tone changed. "When I told you that you are all I have in this world, I meant it. I care very much for you. In fact, I love you. Just the thought of seeing you again is what got me out of those caves. Just seeing you when I got off that plane made me feel a thousand times better. I even shared some of my most personal memories with you to show you how much I cared about you. You told me to make it up to you and that was what I tried to do. If you have no feelings for me at all, please tell me and I'll stop trying."

Pepper felt her heart break in two at Tony's words. "When I was told that you were taken, it felt like part of me had died inside. Getting through every day without you was nearly impossible. It was then I realized what I had been denying for so long that I did love you. Seeing you come back alive was one of the happiest moments of my life and every day since then the place in my heart for you has grown bigger. I have loved you longer than you knew and I just didn't have the courage to say it."

Tony then got up from the stool he had been sitting on and gently wiped away the tears on her cheek with his thumb before leaning in and kissing her lips softly. As he broke away, he looked right into her eyes as he held her. "So what does this mean to my question?"

"That I will be your girlfriend if you would still have me." Pepper replied. No sooner the words had left her lips, she found herself in a warm and comfortable embrace. "Now, I believe you said that was dinner and a movie…my choice."

Tony nodded against her before pulling back. "I had the impression you didn't want to." He said cautiously. "I hope you don't have some horrible chick flick in mind."

"No. It is not some horrible chick flick but it is a surprise." Pepper said as she took his hand and led him up to the living room.

"I thought I was the one giving surprises tonight." Tony commented as he sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to him.

"I have actually been working on this for sometime. I just needed the right moment to give it to you." Pepper said as she sat next to him and leaned into his shoulder. "Jarvis, could you please start the movie?"

"With pleasure, Ms. Potts."

The screen lit up first with the wedding of Tony's parents and then moved to bringing home Tony as a baby and his childhood. All the pictures and home movies she could find. They moved through his childhood and all his achievements through the eyes of his parents' camera.

Tony was actually choked up at this. He hadn't seen most of these in years and seeing these felt like his parents were still around. "How did you do this?" he asked her with a small smile.

"I had help from Rhodey and Jarvis. They dug up all the videos and pictures and I put them together. This was the reason why I had started looking in the box anyway. Once I found the box and all the treasures in it, I decided to make this gift for you. I didn't close the file though." Pepper said with a knowing smile.

"Why not?"

"I left it open so you can add future events to it."

_Finito_

_Author's Note: This one has been very fun to write and again my thanks goes out to Tamasit1 for all her help. Some of you may be wondering why this chapter seems very similar to chapter 4 of _How Many More Chances _and my answer is because it is nearly the same. Box of Memories was inspired by this one chapter so it seemed a fitting end._


End file.
